Ready
by Bea Scribens
Summary: "And looking into Astrid's solemn blue eyes, something inside of Hiccup just...clicked." A series of interconnected drabbles about Hiccup and Astrid navigating the future of their relationship, and the future of Berk. Set pre/during/mainly post HTTYD: The Hidden World.
1. The New Chief of Berk

It was late, and the Great Hall was deserted. It'd been a good night, with laughter and stories. After weeks of rebuilding, and of Hiccup getting used to his new role as Chief, life on Berk had finally settled into a new normal. For the first time since Stoick had died, the atmosphere had been loud and joyful again.

Even as more and more people had left for their beds, Hiccup and Astrid had stayed on. Until suddenly it was only the two of them.

Astrid eyed the candles that burned dangerously low on the table in front of them. "We should get some sleep."

Hiccup raised an eyebrow, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. "Is that an invitation, Ms. Hofferson?"

She smacked him playfully on the shoulder. "No, it's a fact. We've got work to do tomorrow, and you're grumpy when you're tired."

Hiccup chuckled. "Fair point." He ran a finger along the rim of his empty stein, suddenly pensive.

"Come on, out with it."

"Huh?"

"What's on your mind?"

Hiccup pursed his lips. "Gobber."

"_Gobber?_"

"Well, not Gobber exactly but… what he said earlier. About us…getting married."

The words took her a little by surprise, and she tried not to flinch. "Oh."

"Do you think he's right?"

It took every ounce of willpower Astrid possessed to school her expression into nonchalance. "I hardly think Gobber's the best person to take relationship advice from. He's been single for like thirty years."

"I guess..."

"Well I know." Astrid saw the flash of hurt in Hiccup's eyes, and it pained her to pretend that she hadn't. "It's not the right time."

Astrid's heart was thundering in her chest; she prayed to the gods that Hiccup couldn't hear it. She picked up his stein and stood, making sure to avoid touching his hand lest he feel her racing pulse. "Come on, Chief. You. Bed. Now."

His smile thankfully reappeared then, and he'd obediently wandered back to his house after kissing her goodnight.

But long after she knew Hiccup would have drifted off to sleep, Astrid lay wide awake in her own bed, her stomach turning itself in knots. This was the first major secret she'd kept from Hiccup: she was ready to marry him, wholeheartedly. She just knew that he wasn't ready to marry _her_, even if he thought he was. It was kinder to let Hiccup think she needed more time than to tell him it was the other way around. To let him think he was helping her by waiting, rather than feel like he was letting her down.

She'd have to tell him the truth though, and soon, or it'd eat her alive. Resolve slowed her hammering heartbeat, and stilled her churning insides. _Change._ When Hiccup showed her that he could cope with change that was outside of his control, that's when she'd tell him.

All the same, Astrid slept poorly that night.


	2. The Night of the New Tail

It was taking Hiccup a long time to fall asleep tonight. He kept wondering why Toothless hadn't come back yet. Worry after worry kept looping around in his head, and it didn't help that, without Toothless, the pile of logs he was using as a makeshift bed was hard and uncomfortable.

And lonely. That too.

He hoped Toothless had found the Light Fury, and that they would return to New Berk in the morning. Sundown had come and gone, and though the curfew he'd set had been half in jest, the other half of him had expected them to be back by now.

He just wanted to know if his friend was safe.

Hiccup was finally on the verge of nodding off when he heard the flaps of his tent being opened. It was still too dark to see anything other than the vague outline of a body standing over him. But it was a body he knew well enough to recognize it regardless. He propped himself up on an elbow, and groggily passed a hand over his face. "Astrid? What's wrong?" He murmured.

"Nothing. I…um… just stay where you are?" she replied softly.

"Sure. But you're kind of freaking me out."

Though he couldn't see it, he knew some semblance of a smile had crept onto her face. "Don't freak out. I'm freaking out enough for the both of us already."

"Now I'm terrified. Nothing freaks you out." Hiccup sat upright, the blanket pooling in his lap. "Are you _sure_ nothing's wrong?"

"Yes. Gods." She hissed. Then, in a considerably more gentle tone, she said "Just give me a second. No talking. Just listening."

Hiccup clamped his mouth shut, waiting. A minute passed in total silence.

"Next time you ask me about getting married, I'll say yes. Whether that's tomorrow, or in a week, or years from now, I'll say yes."

His jaw almost hit the floor. "As—"

"I'm not done. And you're supposed to be listening, remember?"

Hiccup forced his lips into a tight line. After a moment — and a long, deep breath — Astrid continued.

"You have to promise me something, Hiccup. The next time you ask, you have to mean it. I mean…I know you've meant it the other times too, but admit it – a big part of you is just asking because you want everyone off your back about it. I need _you _to be ready. Screw them. _Especially_ Gobber."

"Especially, huh?"

Somehow, even in the dark, she managed to locate his shoulder and smack it.

"Ow!"

"I'm serious, Hiccup. Don't start cracking jokes right now or I'll throttle you."

"Noted. Just…a lot to process. Okay. Right."

She snorted. "That's pretty close to the reaction I was expecting."

Hiccup exhaled in a rush of air; his thoughts, which had been messy to begin with, were in shambles now. So many questions were coursing through his brain, though one of them was insistent that it be verbalized, or he wasn't getting _any _sleep tonight. "Can…can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Why are you telling me this now, and not in daylight hours?"

Astrid laughed breathily. "Because I didn't want you to see how much I'm shaking right now."

A wave of affection flooded through him. "C'mere," Hiccup mumbled, patting the fur-covered logs beside him. After only a fleeting moment of hesitation, she did, close enough that their shoulders brushed against each other. He felt for her hand, and it was indeed trembling when he found it. Hiccup kissed her knuckles. "Why are you shaking?"

"I honestly have no idea."

"My fearless warrior girlfriend, reduced to a shell of her normal self at the prospect of marrying her boyfriend."

Astrid pinched Hiccup's forearm lightly. "You know that's not true."

"Not really."

She placed her free hand over the small hurt she'd caused. "And we're not getting married until you do."

Hiccup sighed, somewhat thankful for the cover of darkness now as his face fell. "You're right. You're always right."

Astrid seemed to sense something of what he was feeling from his tone, because she squeezed his hand. "Not always. But I'm right about this." She used her hold on Hiccup to pull him into a crushing hug. "I'm not going anywhere, babe." She whispered, her breath caressing his ear.

He noticed that she'd stopped shaking in the same moment that he started to.

Astrid pulled away, trying to find his eyes in the dark and failing. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he lied. "Just cold."

He could almost feel her rolling her eyes. "Then put a shirt on, stupid."

"What, and cover up all of this raw Viking-ness?"

"You do realize I can't see you, Hiccup."

"But you can feel—"

"Aaaaaaand that's my cue to go."

Hiccup chuckled. "Can I at least kiss you goodnight?"

"Hmmm…" she hummed happily, pretending to consider as she leaned into him. "I'll allow it."

The kiss was soft and lingering. Sleepy, almost. Hiccup was the first to break away, but he didn't go far. His lips skirted along her jawline, making a trail up to her temple.

"Hey Az?" He murmured into her ear.

"Yeah?"

"When I'm…when it's the right time, you'll be the first to know."

He felt her smile into his cheek. "I'd better be." Astrid kissed him lightly in the same spot, then in one swift motion she pulled back and stood. "'Night, babe."

"'Night," He whispered, and she slipped back out of his tent and back to her own.

Nothing had changed, not really. The worries were still there, circling.

But Hiccup was asleep within seconds. He did not stir until daybreak.


	3. After They Left (Pt 1)

Hiccup was exhausted beyond words, yet sleep would not find him. He'd given up completely about an hour ago, and had lit a single candle to keep the darkness at bay.

It had only been a day. One day. But time had slowed to a trickle. The hole the dragons had left was huge. Not insurmountably so – they would heal, in time – but today…today had been rough. Many people had been nursing massive hangovers, courtesy of drowning their sorrows the night before. Those that weren't were just as quiet. It was a day of going through the motions, of doing and not speaking.

Hiccup had spent most of the day making a new prosthetic, which hadn't really worked as a distraction, but had at least given him something to do with his hands. It was an exact copy of the one that now lay at the bottom of the ocean, saddle latch and all. Gods be damned if he was ever going to make one without it, regardless of whether it was needed or not.

A lump had formed in his throat when he'd peeled off his flight suit for a sorely needed bath, and had stayed lodged there ever since.

Hiccup now lay in his bed, slowly turning through the pages of his father's journal on the Hidden World. The muscles in his back were stiff from sleeping on the cliff-side yesterday, and the hard wood of his bed wasn't doing much to ease the ache. He closed his eyes, massaging the knot between his shoulder blades with a sigh. It was going to be a long night.

Someone lightly cleared their throat, the sound too close to be coming from another tent.

His eyes flew open. And softened. "Astrid?"

She stood a few steps away from the foot of his make-shift bed, dressed in a long wool nightgown. A blanket was draped loosely around her shoulders; the candle light made it seem as if her mane of blonde hair was glowing. She did not smile. "Can I stay with you tonight?"

He was almost certain that he'd misheard her. "Sorry?"

"I...I can't sleep." She mumbled, taking a step closer.

Hiccup huffed a single, sad laugh. "Me neither." He scooted to the left a bit, pulling back the blanket as he did so. She needed no further invitation and crawled into bed beside him, curling up in a ball under Hiccup's arm.

They didn't speak for a long time. They just sat there, Hiccup running his fingers tenderly through Astrid's hair, and Astrid tracing small circles on Hiccup's sternum.

Hiccup was the first to break the silence. "It's so quiet without them around." There was no explanation necessary as to who "them" was.

"It _sucks._" Astrid muttered emphatically.

"You're not wrong." Hiccup replied, the faintest echo of amusement in his tone. After another moment of silence, he asked gently, "You alright?"

"Not really." Astrid said, voice breaking.

Hiccup hugged her tighter to his side. "You're allowed to cry, Astrid." He kissed her hair. "I won't tell anyone."

She laughed wetly. "If I start crying I don't think I'll be able to stop."

"I'm not going to tell you how to grieve," Hiccup murmured. "But you were my shoulder to cry on last night. And if you need me to be yours tonight, that's_ okay."_

Astrid squirmed underneath his arm. "What are you reading?" she asked in a blatantly obvious attempt to change the topic.

He understood, and wished that his answer was a bit more removed from the situation, to be able to give her something else to think about. "Dad's journal."

"Ah."

Hiccup hesitated, then voiced the thought he'd been having before she had entered. "I think we need to destroy it."

Astrid pulled away from his side so she could look at him. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." He dragged it over so it straddled both his leg and hers. "It's just too risky to have lying around. I know it's just guesswork and half-baked theories, and we'd probably never have found the caldera without Stormfly," He felt Astrid flinch at the mention of her Nadder, "But if they stand any chance of staying hidden, then the less that anyone knows about it the better."

Astrid didn't appear surprised at the conviction in his words, which surprised _him _somewhat. She just nodded after a second, then slipped out from under the blanket, and picked up the candle from the crate he'd been using as makeshift table. "Open the book and put it on that stool," she ordered quietly.

Hiccup swung his legs out the right side of the bed and did as he was told, watching Astrid as she slowly padded her way across the inside of the tent, careful not to drip hot wax on her hands as she went. It only took a few steady steps to reach him.

"Hold up a page for me? Just till the flame catches."

Without a word, Hiccup reached out and pinched two between his fingers, close to the spine.

She lowered the candle enough for the fire to lick the edges of the paper, and Hiccup withdrew his hand. Within seconds the corners were blackened; then the fire reached the other pages and the flames flared to life. Astrid sat beside him on the bed, candle still grasped firmly in her hands, and they watched in silence as the pages curled and the fire grew. Messy handwriting and rough sketches shriveled into themselves and then disappeared entirely.

Hiccup glanced down at Astrid, trying to catch her eye, but she was staring intently ahead; not at the burning book, but at the light of the candle. Her hands gripped its base like a vice. She showed no sign that she'd noticed him looking at her.

Tendrils of smoke stung his eyes as the flames began to gutter, the fire rapidly running out of material to burn. When everything within the covers was blackened beyond readability, or burnt away completely, he extended his prosthetic leg and gingerly nudged up the back cover of the book with it. The back cover snapped shut against the front, extinguishing the remaining embers with a muted _thwack_. It had a strange sense of finality to it.

Hiccup stared at the now-empty journal for a moment more, not feeling any happier, but just a fraction lighter. When he turned back to Astrid, he found that her gaze had not shifted from the light she held. It was only when he placed his hands over hers that she looked up at him. Her eyes shone, perhaps with tears, though he couldn't be sure. It could just as easily be that they were irritated by the smoke, and nothing more. "May I?" He said, nodding at the candle.

Astrid didn't answer; she simply released her hold on it. Hiccup took it into his own hands, and returned it to its spot on the crate. Even once he was properly back in bed, Astrid remained where she was. It took a gentle tug of her hand to break her concentration, to coax her away from her perch and under the blanket again. Hiccup scooped Astrid up into a ball in his arms, holding her torso to his. Despite the recent fire, her skin was cold. She nestled her head into the centre of Hiccup's chest.

Both were quiet for a time, just listening to one another's steady breathing, until—

"Are we going to talk about the fact you were about a second away from dying yesterday?" Astrid mumbled into his collarbone.

"…We can, if you want to." Hiccup scratched at the scars where his left leg ended and his prosthetic began. "I didn't think it was that important in the scheme of things."

"Didn't think —" Astrid shoved his body away from hers with as much force as she could muster. "Hiccup, I saw you plummeting to your death and I was too far away to do anything about it. Do you know how horrible that was for me? I thought…"

And then, at long last, she started to cry.

Hiccup pulled her back to his chest immediately as sobs caused her frame to crumple. He wrapped his arms around her in a bone-crushing hug, resting his head on hers.

"Shhhhh, I'm here. I'm here." He whispered. "I'm not going anywhere."

His words – _her_ words from a week ago - only made her cry harder, so Hiccup said nothing more. He just held her. Held her as she'd held him all the way through the night before. Because words didn't help as much as not leaving did.

Astrid eventually managed a tear-soaked "I miss them."

Hiccup gently massaged his palm in small circles on her back. "Me too."

After a time, the candle burnt itself out; the flame sputtered once and then died completely, plunging the tent into darkness. Then they both lay down to sleep in each other's arms, as exhaustion finally overwhelmed them both.


	4. After They Left (Pt 2)

It was well past daybreak when Hiccup woke. He could hear the distant sound of people already chopping wood somewhere in the forest, along with the indistinct rumble of conversation among the sprawl of tents.

And Astrid's quiet snoring.

His eyelids fluttered open; a small, secret smile crept onto his face.

Hiccup knew he'd have to wake her soon — not only was there work to do, but she would be irritable if she missed breakfast — but he didn't see the harm in letting her sleep a few minutes longer.

He brushed a few strands of hair back off her face with a feather-light touch; Astrid's nose twitched slightly in her sleep at the contact, though she didn't stir.

Hiccup's heart constricted, and for the first time in the last two days, it wasn't out of grief.

His ears registered people calling out someone's name from far away, but his mind did not. No, his mind was entirely occupied with marveling at the way Astrid's hair cascaded down her pillow like a river of sunlight. And counting the smattering of tiny pale freckles on her cheeks.

A content sigh made him jump, before he realized it had come from him.

His thoughts went to Toothless (as they had been wont to do of late); he hoped that his friend was waking up to something similar with the Light Fury. He found the idea eased the dragon-sized ache in his chest a little.

The image in his mind's eye was dispelled, as someone — multiple someone's, actually — were shouting loudly enough, and close enough, that it managed to break through Hiccup's reverie. He glanced up. Were they calling out for —?

"Astrid!"

Hiccup swore colorfully under his breath.

"Astrid!"

So much for letting her sleep…Hiccup gently shook his sleeping partner's shoulder. "Az, you need to get up."

Astrid wasn't having it. "Mneughhh," she mumbled, swatting his hand away in a mostly-still-asleep stupor.

"Something's goi-"

The rest of his sentence was overpowered by a loud "I hope you're decent, Haddock, I'm coming in!"

Hiccup didn't even have a moment to react before Tuffnut Thorston burst into the tent. "Hiccup we can't find Astrid; she's been missing for hours, everyone's panicking. Have you seen her?"

It took an exceptional amount of willpower not to glance down at Astrid; Hiccup prayed to every God there was that Tuffnut would leave again before noticing her.

Unfortunately for him, they did not seem to be listening.

"Hiccup?" Astrid mumbled woozily as she rose into a sitting position, rubbing the last remnants of slumber from her eyes. "What's —" She locked eyes with Tuffnut, who's expression flitted from surprise to relief to horror, before finally settling on amusement as the General of Berk let rip a string of expletives.

"Well, that answers _that_ question," Tuffnut said. And before either Hiccup or Astrid could stop him, he threw open the tent doors and called out "She's here!"

"Where?" came a few disembodied replies.

"With Hiccup. They're in bed together. "

Hiccup and Astrid groaned simultaneously. Of all the people that could have found them, it just _had_ to be Tuffnut.

Tuffnut turned back to them at the noise they'd made. "What'd I say?"

"You're an idiot, Tuff." Astrid grumbled, throwing a pillow in his general direction.

"I don't unders—" His eyes widened in comprehension. "Oh Thoooooooor. Guys I am so sorry —"

"What in Odin's name are you doing in the same bed?"

Tuffnut was bad enough, but the person who'd just entered was a thousand times worse.

"Okay Gobber, for the record, this is absolutely _not _what it looks like."

The blacksmith surveyed the scene with a disappointed scowl, then jabbed a finger at Tuffnut. "You. Out."

When the younger Viking was conceivably out of earshot, Gobber rounded on the pair in the bed. "Well?"

"We were sleeping. Until Tuffnut came barging in."

"Oh _suuuure_ you were."

Hiccup roughly pushed back the blankets and crossed his arms. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, a very distinct edge to his voice that hadn't been there until now.

"I think you know exactly what I mean, _Chief."_

Astrid held up her hands in a very Hiccup-like gesture. "Okay Gobber, everything you're thinking right now is the complete opposite of what happened." She glanced at Hiccup tenderly before continuing. "I needed a shoulder to cry on, and Hiccup just let me blubber into his shirt all night. It was about the most unromantic situation you could imagine."

Gobber eyed them both suspiciously, his own arms crossing now. He said nothing, only scowled at them even more.

Astrid rapidly lost her patience. "Gods Gobber, we didn't sleep with each other!"

"I mean technically we did—"

"Hiccup that is NOT helping." Astrid growled through gritted teeth.

Hiccup shook his head, pinching his nose as if to stall a headache. "We just slept in the same bed, alright? That's _it_. We didn't…y'know. Not that that is _anyone's_ business."

Gobber spoke slowly, as if he were talking to a small child. "But you're _Chief,_ Hiccup. You have to set an example. Even if you're telling the truth about all this—"

"Which we are—"

"—And that's all that happened, you've _got_ to know how it looks. What people are thinking right now."

Fire flared in Astrid's eyes; she opened her mouth to give Gobber a piece of her mind — but Hiccup beat her to it. "It's none of their business." He repeated, finally rising out of the bed. "And frankly Gobber, none of yours, either." He strode past the older man to the entrance of the tent and held a flap open for him. "I'll find you after breakfast."

Gobber gawked at Hiccup for a moment. Then he turned back to Astrid and grumbled "Your parents want a word with you later."

She gave him a sarcastic thumbs up; Gobber threw his remaining hand up dramatically and stalked out.

Hiccup let the tent flap fall shut and sat back down on the edge of the bed, already feeling tired again. Astrid looked mildly impressed.

"What?"

"Where'd _that _come from?"

Hiccup pursed his lips. "I think Gobber's had that coming for a while now."

Astrid pushed the blankets off of herself and clambered over to sit cross-legged beside him. "I couldn't agree more."

Hiccup chuckled, and leaned back to kiss Astrid lightly on the cheek. "Good morning."

"Gods, what a start to the day." She exhaled, rolling her eyes. "You know that if I'm going to be subjected to a lecture from my parents you have to come with me."

"But—"

"No 'buts', Chief. You're coming with me."

Hiccup knew better than to argue. "As you wish, milady." He watched her closely as he asked, "How are you doing?"

Astrid smiled softly. "Better. You?"

"Better." He said earnestly. "Having you around helps."

"I know what you mean." She frowned. "I'm not looking forward to tonight though."

Hiccup made a noise of agreement, his hand finding hers almost by instinct.

And looking into Astrid's solemn blue eyes, something inside of Hiccup just… clicked. There was no other way to describe it.

He thought he'd been ready to marry her for months, but he'd been wrong. He thought he'd been ready two days ago on the cliff-side, but he'd been wrong then, too. He'd loved her for almost his entire life, but it was only in this inconsequential instant that he finally understood what Astrid had meant about "meaning it".

She was his home.

The enormity of that fact, the permanency, the _joy _of it…"What if you stayed here? With me, I mean." The question was out before he even had a chance to think about it, but it felt absolutely right.

"Now?"

"No, stupid, I mean tonight. And…every night. If you want?"

Astrid's eyes widened, and her mouth went slack. "You're aware of what that means, right?"

Her question was really two questions in one, and he knew it. Despite their protests, Gobber was right – this morning's events would be all anyone would be talking about today. If Astrid started staying with him permanently the gossip would be incessant, regardless of whether it was true or not, until they were married. And neither of them could stand gossip of any kind for a prolonged period of time. So then by association…

Hiccup nodded. "Fully."

Astrid looked like a Terrible Terror holding a bird in its mouth, until the grin she was trying to contain broke free, and spread across her face. It was like the sun coming out. "I'll bring my things over this afternoon." She kissed Hiccup squarely on the lips, then rolled gracefully to the side and stood up. "But right now, I want food." She mussed his hair as she walked away. "I'm going to get dressed. See you in a bit."

They were both still hurting, and likely would be for a long while yet. But there were still things to look forward to. Like seeing Gobber's face when he found out that this morning was the beginning of a permanent arrangement.

Hiccup grinned to himself, then got up to start the day.


	5. Dragon People

The afternoon was still, and the summer air was thick like honey. For the first time in what felt like forever, bird song could be heard from the trees. It would be nice, he thought, to spend the remaining daylight hours lying in the grass here, at the edge of the forest. But that wasn't possible. Not yet, anyway.

"You ready?"

Hiccup rolled his shoulders a few times before opening his eyes. Astrid was looking at him expectantly, her features scrunched into a squint to try and block out the sun.

"Nope," He replied. "But we should get going."

They wandered down the hill hand in hand to where the people of Berk were assembled, sitting and standing around the tables of the food area. It was the best option available for a meeting place with the current state of the village; barely two weeks old and mostly still a mass of tents. Only four days since losing their scaly companions.

Their approach was unassuming, and not audible over the rumble of conversation coming from the amassed Berkians. But a few people on the outskirts of the group saw them coming, and so shouts of "Quiet!" And "They're here!" cut through the din as they neared. By the time Hiccup and Astrid actually reached the front of the throng, they were met with almost complete silence. Only almost, because this meeting was a little different from the countless that had preceded it.

Because the children and babies of Berk were here, too. Traditionally they were always absent from meetings, along with a handful of adults who would look after the children too young to look after themselves. But today, quite literally everyone from Berk was present, as Hiccup and Astrid had requested. And so the occasional baby gurgling and child squealing prevented the assembly from being truly quiet. The corner of Hiccup's mouth quirked up; he kind of liked it. It certainly felt less formal this way. He clambered up onto the nearest table. He turned back to offer Astrid a hand up, but she was already rising to stand beside him, having clambered up right along with him.

Hiccup surveyed his people, still a little unsure of where to begin. What the right words to say were. He'd been Chief for over a year now, and had grown to be okay at the whole speech-giving thing. On some days, he was actually pretty good at it. Except with Toothless and the other dragons gone...it was like starting all over again. In a lot of ways, it _was_ starting all over again.

That was why he'd called the meeting in the first place.

He blew out a breath in a rush of air, then asked in a voice that carried "How is everyone doing?"

There was a smattering of melancholy chuckles. A baby started wailing down the back somewhere, but was quickly hushed.

He managed a smile; a small one, but a smile nonetheless. "I wish our first tribe meeting on New Berk was under happier circumstances." The smile soured, faltering into a grimace. "I hope you think I made the right call in sending the dragons away."

Immediately there was shouts of "Aye Chief!", "You did good Hiccup!" and "We're okay!"

Hiccup's heart swelled. He glanced at Astrid, who discretely nodded her agreement. Or to urge him to keep talking. Perhaps both.

He raised a hand and the words of support ceased almost instantly. "I want to start by saying thank you for everything over the last few days. Weeks, really. Moving to a totally new place, and then losing the dragons…it's been rough. But you've been nothing but great throughout all of it." Hiccup paused, then said emphatically "Even if they're no longer with us, we will _always_ be dragon people. But Berk has never existed _without_ dragons. And now they're gone."

His voice broke on the last word, but he covered it quickly with a cough. "If we spend the rest of our days sitting on our butts doing nothing, then sending them all away will have been for nothing." Hiccup's voice softened. "We need to keep living. We need to make this world a place that someday, the dragons might be able to come back to. If not in our lifetime, then in our children's. Or our grandchildren's. Or great-great-great-great-grandchildren's."

A murmur of agreement bubbled through the group. Hiccup glanced sideways at Astrid, and was surprised to find her already looking at him, eyes wide. He couldn't figure out why, but she was striding forward and addressing the crowd before he could really think too much about it.

"It's still early days." Astrid said with authority. "Adjusting to whatever comes next will take time, and lots of it. But I guess what Hiccup and I have been trying to figure out is what the people of Berk will be known for in another seven generations. First, we were the toughest dragon fighters around. Then we were dragon riders, and dragon protectors. And now…we think that we should be explorers. Traders. Adventurers."

Hiccup watched as the words washed over the people of Berk, wriggling into their heads for contemplation. "There is a huge world out there." He found himself saying, more passion in his voice than he strictly intended. "And I choose to believe that there's some good in it. We just need to find it." He saw a grin creep onto Astrid's face out of the corner of his eye as he added, "And hey, I hope no-one's forgotten how to steer a ship in the last six years."

No-one responded until a little child, no more than four years old, tugged at his mother's sleeve and loudly asked, "Mamma, what does steer mean?"

A laugh rippled through the crowd; then finally, people started to nod. And then, out of nowhere, a voice called out "I'm in."

Heads snapped towards the source of the words. Snotlout ignored them, staring steadily back at Hiccup and Astrid, and added. "But I wanna be a Captain."

Hiccup turned to Astrid. "General Hofferson? What do you think?"

He half expected a smack on the arm, but Astrid was busy considering. "If you can demonstrate that you're still a competent sailor, I don't see why not." She offered Snotlout a rare smile. "If memory serves me correctly, you're better at wrangling waves than flames."

Snotlout blushed at the surprise compliment, as a handful of other men and women started to shout similar requests. The noise woke two different sleeping babies, who started crying. Conversation sparked, and the noise rapidly escalated to the point where Astrid had to stomp three times on the table and shout: "Okay, QUIET!"

When the din had lowered to an acceptable volume, she said "For those interested in being a Captain, there'll be another meeting tomorrow morning after breakfast. We'll talk details then. But right now we need to know if, as a tribe, the majority is up for this new way of life." She nudged Hiccup sharply with her elbow. "Will you do the honors, Chief?" Astrid muttered, both mirth and mild exasperation laced together in her tone.

Hiccup cleared his throat self-consciously. Then he addressed his people in a voice that sounded more like his Dad's than he'd ever thought he was capable of. "It will be dangerous. It will be uncertain. It will mean strangers on our shores, and family and friends leaving for stranger's shores. But if we do it right, we just might be able to make a better world." Despite himself, he looked sideways at Astrid again, and smiled as he said "Together." She rolled her eyes with a smile of her own as he turned back to the crowd. "All those in favor of broadening our horizons, and opening our borders, say aye."

The words were barely out before a resounding shout of "Aye!" erupted from the people of Berk, echoing off of the cliff-faces. A couple of kids called out "Aye!" in high pitched voices a few seconds late, then giggled at themselves.

A chuckle escaped Hiccup's chest, too. "Okay, good. Dinner here at sundown, as usual. See you all then."

At that, the people of Berk began to shuffle off, back to jobs that needed completing, or leisure time if they were already done for the day.

Once they'd dispersed, and the eating area was once again empty, he felt Astrid slide up beside him. "Well done, _Chief._" She whispered, planting a brief kiss on his temple.

He ruffled her hair. "You too, _General."_

She smirked, then offered up a hand for a high-five. "First New Berk tribe meeting done and dusted!"

Hiccup laughed once, and humored her by slapping his palm into hers. "You're a dork, you know that, right?"

"You can say that, but no-one will ever believe you. And besides," Astrid said, jumping with practiced grace off the table and onto the ground. "You're ten times the dork I'll ever be."

Hiccup smirked, following suit. "Shut up, Hofferson."

"Not on your life, Haddock."


	6. A Mutual Friend

Eret chucked the hammer and chisel to the ground, and wiped the sweat off his face with his wood-chip covered forearm. He rubbed his calloused hands together to ease the strained muscles there as he inspected his handiwork. Then he hefted the now branchless and barkless tree trunk onto his shoulder, and lumbered towards the edge of the clearing he'd slowly created over the last few days.

He'd only walked a few strides before a dull _thwack _perked his ears. Then a brusque, female voice said "I was surprised you weren't at the Captain's meeting this morning."

Eret turned to find Astrid leaning against the handle of her axe, the blade of which was embedded in a tree stump.

"Yeah, well…" He mumbled, letting the log thud down on top of the growing pile near where the forest began.

Astrid made a loud noise that could only be described as a scoff, and shook her head.

Eret raised an eyebrow. "What?"

She rolled her eyes, and pushed up off her axe handle to stand up straight. "You and Hiccup are _so_ alike sometimes. Do I really have to straight up ask you why you weren't there?"

Now it was Eret's turn to shake his head. He walked over to her, then past her, and retrieved his discarded tools. "I didn't want to be."

"Obviously. I'm asking _why." _Astrid persisted, folding her arms."You _were _a ship Captain, a good one, and not that long ago either. You're easily one of the most qualified to be one now."

A barrage of memories tumbled through Eret's brain, most tinged with fear or pain. Sometimes both. He sighed. "That was a past life, Astrid. I want to leave as much of it behind me as possible."

Astrid smiled softly. It was an expression that Eret only saw directed at Hiccup, and the occasional small animal. It felt strange to have it directed at him. "You have skills, Eret. Valuable ones. We could really use you on our fleet."

"Look, with all due respect, Astrid, no. Thank you."

Astrid shook her head again. "You're being stupid —"

"My answer is still no." Eret replied firmly. He bent over and picked up his own axe, its blade slightly dull from a day spent chopping down tree trunks.

Astrid was losing patience. Rapidly. "But Eret —"

"_No."_

Her lips formed a hard, angry line. "You know, I don't _have_ to ask you."

"Are you going to order me to be a Captain against my wishes, _General?"_

"I might if you don't come to your senses about this."

"Oh gods, sorry."

Both Eret and Astrid jumped at the sudden interjection; the voice that had uttered it was unmistakable.

Hiccup looked beyond uncomfortable. "I'm interrupting something, aren't I?" He jabbed a thumb behind him. "I'll come back."

"It's fine, Hiccup. I was just leaving." Eret said, not bothering to dull the edge in his voice.

"It was you I was looking for, actually," Hiccup said, smiling weakly in what seemed to be an attempt to diffuse the tension.

Astrid growled in frustration, and yanked her axe out of the wood with one strong tug. "No, I'll go. I know when I'm fighting a losing battle."

She started to storm off, but when she reached Hiccup she paused, sighed, and turned back to face Eret once more. "You're wasted as just another set of muscles, Eret." Astrid said, her face hard, but her voice gentle. "Please…do me a favor and think about it." She glanced once at Hiccup, giving him a meaningful look that Eret couldn't decipher, and left.

Hiccup watched her go, then turned back to Eret when it seemed like Astrid would feasibly be out of ear shot. "What was _that _about?"

"Nothing important." Eret muttered, and stalked towards the nearest tree, where without pause he aggressively started hacking into the wood with his axe.

Hiccup pursed his lips, but didn't pry any further. He watched Eret for a minute or two before speaking again. He had to yell slightly for Eret to hear him over the wood chopping. "So… why weren't you at the Captain's meeting today?"

Eret abruptly stopped what he was doing and groaned, "Oh _Gods_ Hiccup, not you too."

Hiccup's eyes widened in a mix of surprise and comprehension. "Is _that _what that argument was about?"

Eret thought of a million angry and insulting things to say. About Hiccup, about Astrid, about Berk. He bit them all back, and simply muttered "Yes."

"And?"

"I'm not interested. End of story."

Hiccup nodded. "Okay."

"Really?" Eret was so surprised at Hiccup's response that the word just popped out of its own accord, without him actually meaning to say anything.

"Of course."

Not for the first time, Eret was struck by how different a leader Hiccup was from the many others he'd encountered before Berk. He suddenly felt a rush of warmth towards this gangly weirdo that had somehow become his friend. He verbalized none of this though; he simply looked at Hiccup for a moment, before uttering a quiet, "Thank you."

Hiccup nodded once. The fire inside of Eret cooled, and he lowered his axe. Hiccup walked over and sat on the tree stump closest to him. "But Astrid's right y'know." Hiccup said eventually. "You're wasted felling trees."

Eret went to speak, but Hiccup held up a hand. He wasn't finished. "If that's what you want to spend your days doing, that's fine by me. I won't stop you. Astrid won't either."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes." Hiccup said firmly. It was impossible not to hear the love in his voice, even in that one little word. "She can be… blunt sometimes. Okay, most of the time," Hiccup said with a laugh when he saw Eret's expression. "But it's always coming from a good place."

"I know," Eret mumbled, sounding a bit like a scolded child even to himself. And he did know, deep down. Astrid was his friend, too. The first friend he'd made from Berk, actually. He'd seen first-hand how she dragged the best out of people. He'd been on the receiving end once already.

"And we _all_ know that you're not going to be content doing this—" Hiccup gestured to the lopped trees and jagged stumps that surrounded them "—for the rest of your life. Not when you're capable of so much more."

Eret wiped a hand over his face. "I just don't want that life anymore," he repeated. "For the first time, I have a place to call home. People I care about." The blacksmith stall, of all things, flickered into his mind. Eret shook his head. "There's got to be something I can do here instead?"

Hiccup laced his fingers together, and rested his elbows on his knees. Here, in front of Eret right now, was another thing he had witnessed many times over the last year – Hiccup's thinking face.

He was quiet for a shorter amount of time than Eret expected. Perhaps Hiccup had already turned his mind to Eret's future before now. Which Eret found…touching. "I mean in the short term you can always help with building ships. I'm sure there'd be a thing or two you could contribute to improve our designs. And going forward…well, I don't have an official second-in-command yet. Would you be interested?"

"Me? But…wouldn't that be Astrid?"

Hiccup smiled again. "Technically I'd say she's joint first-in-command. She's Berk's General. And…" He blushed a deep shade of crimson. "She'll be Chieftess someday, too."

The statement in and of itself wasn't anything shocking; Eret couldn't figure out why Hiccup was bashful about it. Unless-

"Anyway, we're going to have to leave someone in charge when we're not here. And help keep the peace when we are."

Eret's thoughts skirted away from wondering about Hiccup's blushing for the moment and into considering the offer he was making. "Are you sure you trust me that much?"

"Would I ask you if I didn't?" Hiccup cocked an eyebrow. "So? What do you say?"

He glanced down at the axe in his right hand. Astrid and Hiccup were right. Tree felling was fine for now, and the resources were sorely needed, but he couldn't do it forever; the boredom would crush him. What Hiccup was proposing…Eret bit his lip.

"I always used to watch my Dad with Gobber when I was a kid," Hiccup started to say falteringly, like he was half considering whether it was a good idea to speak at all. "They… they were really close." He chuckled softly, glancing down at his hands. "Dad was about as stubborn as they come, but he'd always listen to Gobber's opinion. And…Dad was about the closest thing Gobber had to family for a really long time."

Hiccup raised his head, and looked Eret steadily in the eyes. "There were different circumstances, and I'm vastly oversimplifying, but I think if you accepted the position, in another twenty years our friendship might look something like that. At least I hope it will."

Eret found his mouth had dropped open, and he hurriedly shut it. He couldn't find words that were eloquent enough or meaningful enough to respond with…so he just extended his left hand instead.

Hiccup's eyes lit up. "Is that a yes?"

Eret smiled shyly. "Only if you shake on it."

"Yes!" Hiccup jumped up in excitement before composing himself to shake Eret's hand. "I look forward to working with you."

Eret laughed for a moment, and then quietly said "Thanks, Hiccup."

"Don't thank me yet. It's not going to be easy."

"That's true," Eret replied, and then a thought occurred to him. "Will Astrid be on board with this?"

He thought his question would dampen Hiccup's enthusiasm, but it didn't affect it one jolt. "She will be. We've talked about it once or twice in the past. Though she thought you'd be more interested in an Emissary-type role." So Eret was right – both of his friends had been thinking about his future long before he had. Another rush of warmth shot through his body. "She'll still want you on the fleet, but she'll get over the disappointment."

Eret chuckled again. And suddenly remembered what had piqued his curiosity earlier in their conversation. "Is there something going on with you two?"

"No? Why?"

"You said Astrid would be Chieftess someday and then went as red as a hot coal."

"Ah, observant. A good quality for a second in command to have."

But Eret was not so easily distracted this time. He leaned on the handle of his axe. "Well?"

Hiccup shook his head in defeat. "Ack, fine. But don't you _dare_ repeat this." He pointed a finger at Eret's chest. "_Especially _not to Gobber, he'll have a heart attack."

Eret raised his hands in surrender, letting his axe fall to the ground.

Hiccup laughed nervously, running a hand through his hair and then scratching at the point on his left calf where his prosthetic started as he said quietly, "I'm going to propose. I don't know exactly how yet, but it's going to be soon. Really soon."

Eret wasn't a romantic by any stretch of the imagination, but even he couldn't help but grin at Hiccup's admission. "Hiccup, that's great. Congratulations."

Hiccup grinned back. "Thank you." His expression became serious. Well, serious for Hiccup in a good mood. "But I mean it, not a word. I haven't even asked her parents yet."

Eret's face twisted in confusion. "Aren't you already betrothed?"

"I didn't ask their permission then." Hiccup said, a mischievous smirk reappearing. "It kind of just…happened one day. And gods, the earful we got from the Hofferson's for that is not something I want to suffer through a second time."

"Sounds like an interesting tale."

"It sounds more dramatic than it actually was. But—" Hiccup crouched down to pick up Eret's axe and handed it to him. "That's a story for another time. I've got to get back." He nodded at the clearing. "If you're fine with doing this for the rest of the day, we can announce your appointment tonight at dinner. We'll go from there."

Eret put a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "I'm looking forward to it."


	7. Permission

"You left early."

Astrid made a non-committal grunt in response. She was standing with her back to Hiccup, already in her nightgown, and in the process of taking her hair out.

He let the tent flap fall shut and made his way to the other side of the tent, and started the long process of undoing the belts of his vest. "Whatever you said to Snotlout worked. I saw him congratulating Eret as I was leaving."

"Great." Astrid muttered darkly, not turning around. She tugged off her kransen and tossed it with more force than necessary onto the table.

Hiccup flinched as the decorative metal studs clattered against the wood. Then he frowned, and paused what he was doing. "Okay, you're clearly angry at me for something right now."

"No, really?" Astrid drawled sarcastically, whirling around to face him with a glare that would kill a lesser man.

"So what did I do?"

Astrid folded her arms across her chest. "I didn't appreciate just being _told_ you'd appointed a second two minutes before you were about to announce it to the rest of the tribe. And then having to be the one who did the crisis management."

"Sorry Az-"

"Don't 'Sorry Az' me, just don't bloody do it again. This," she gestured between the two of them, "is a partnership. We make decisions like that _together. _Okay?"

"I just thought-"

"Exactly. _You _thought."

Hiccup was finally silent. Because she was right. And he felt like an ass.

Astrid glowered at him for a moment longer, before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath in through her nose. Then she sighed. When her eyes reopened, the fire in them had cooled considerably. But she still wasn't smiling. "Look, I'll be over it in the morning. I know we've talked about it a little in the past, and Eret will be a great second. But I hate surprises, babe, you know that. Especially big ones like that."

Hiccup's stomach lurched.

But Astrid continued talking, unaware of his inner turmoil. She turned back to the counter to grab a hair brush, and started dragging it through her long, golden tresses. "I didn't say anything to Snotlout that wasn't true. I just told him he'd hate being stuck here helping sort out petty disputes all day, and that he's better suited to doing the dangerous, scary, new stuff. Like exploring." She faced him again, still brushing, a tiny smirk on her face. "And how many cool stories he'll have to impress people with when he gets back from voyages."

It was then that Astrid twigged to the fact that Hiccup's mind was somewhere else entirely. Her smirk shrivelled up into a snarl and her hand stilled. "Gods Hiccup, what_ now_?"

"If I warn you about an upcoming surprise but I don't explicitly say what the surprise _is_, is that okay?"

Astrid hurled the brush onto the bed, her jaw tense. "What part of "I hate surprises" is confusing to you?"

"But if we've talked about it-"

"Did you listen to anything I just said?!"

"I did, and I'm sorry, I really am, but I _really _hope it doesn't apply to this."

"Apply to _what_, exactly?"

"I'm trying to skirt around it as much as possible because this isn't how I want it to happen and if you stop being mad at me for a second and think about it you'll figure out what I'm trying to…not say."

"Hiccup, I'm not in the mood for your stupid —" And suddenly the storm disappeared from her face as she understood the question he wasn't asking. "_Oh."_

Hiccup smiled awkwardly.

Astrid did too, looking a little stunned. "Really?"

Hiccup raked a hand through his hair and shrugged. "I still have to ask your parents, but yeah, really."

Astrid beamed for a second before biting her lip; she frowned again, though the corners of her mouth twitched. "I'm still mad at you." She muttered. But the light in her eyes said otherwise.

Hiccup sat on the edge of the bed, and leaned across to retrieve the hairbrush from the pile of blankets it had landed in. He held it up, but not back to her, nodding at her hair. "May I?"

Astrid scowled playfully, but padded over to him and sat by his side, her back turned so he had access to her flowing blonde mane. Both of them were quiet for a time, as Hiccup slowly and gently pulled the brush through her hair. It looked more and more like liquid gold with every stroke.

Hiccup wasn't sure who was enjoying themselves more; him, hands prickling with electricity, or Astrid, who sounded like she was about to start purring.

"I _am _sorry, by the way." Hiccup said after a while.

"Apology accepted. _Ow."_

Hiccup had accidentally caught a knot. "Sorry for that, too."

"Mmhmm."

Hiccup chuckled, then said quietly "I'd love some ideas, if you want to drop some not-so-subtle hints."

"Uh-uh." Astrid said, shuffling around to look him in the eye. "Nope. This one's on you." And then, with a wicked grin, she added. "Surprise me."

Hiccup shook his head with a smile, and mussed up Astrid's hair with his free hand.

She poked out her tongue at him. "You're going to have to brush that all out again now."

"I know."

* * *

Two days later Hiccup found himself on the threshold of the Hofferson's brand new house, knocking on their front door. His heart galloped as he heard heavy footsteps; a bolt was unlatched. The door swung open.

"Hiccup! What a pleasant surprise!"

Hiccup mentally thanked every god there was that it was Nutmeg Hofferson who had answered. It wasn't that he didn't like Astrid's father; it was just that Astrid's mother was far less intimidating. He was nervous enough as it was. "Hey Mrs Hofferson. Is it…um…do you mind if I come in for a minute?"

"Do I mind," Nutmeg scoffed affectionately as she stood back from the doorway to let him in. "And please, Chief," she said with a warm smile as he passed her, "call me Meg."

"Ah yeah, sorry. Old habits."

The main room of the house was sparsely furnished; a table off to the side with a hammer and nails on it, one chair near the empty fire pit, and another chair half-assembled beside it. The shelves were still empty.

"Just moved in this morning," Meg explained, leaning against the handrail at the foot of the stairs. "You take the seat, love. I'm just in the middle of making a second one."

"Oh no, I'm okay. Thanks. Ah…" he didn't know what to do with his hands. "Is Hessian here, too?"

"Yes, he's out the back painting the house. Why?"

"I need to talk to both of you, if it's not too much of a hassle."

Meg's forehead furrowed, but instead of questioning Hiccup further, she simply cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted "IAN!"

"What?" The muffled reply indeed came from outside, on the other end of the room.

"COME IN HERE!"

An unintelligible series of curses was soon followed by a few loud bangs, then footsteps as Astrid's father dropped tools and made his way around the outside of the house. The floorboards of the porch creaked as he crossed them, and then huge and hairy Hessian Hofferson entered the room, grumbling "I've got a lot of house to paint Meg, what do you – oh." He spotted Hiccup, but his demeanor stayed the same. "Didn't see you there, Chief."

Hiccup raised a hand. "Hi, Mr Hofferson. Sorry to take you away from your work."

His apology seemed to soften the man, for Hessian rolled his eyes and — finally — cracked a smile. "For the last time, kid, it's Ian. Mr Hofferson makes me feel old."

"Sorry," Hiccup said for what felt like the millionth time, cringing internally at how timid he sounded. He steeled himself and pushed on. "I won't be long. I hope. I just needed you both here for this."

Meg and Ian exchanged a quick glance. Ian crossed his arms, clearly just settling in to hear what Hiccup had to say, but it suddenly made him look a whole lot more scary.

Hiccup scratched his head, then realized it probably made him look too casual, so he put his hands behind his back. But that was too formal. He gulped, and settled for clasping them together in front of him. "So…phew this is more nerve-wracking than I thought it'd be."

Meg smiled warmly. "We won't bite, Hiccup."

"Right. Yes. Okay. Well the thing is…I…I want to ask Astrid to marry me. And I wanted to ask your permission this time around. So I…yeah. That's why I'm here." Hiccup winced. _For Thor's sake, _he thought,_ just strike me down right now. _

There was a pause as the Hofferson's processed what he was saying.

And then suddenly Hiccup was airborne.

"FINALLY!" Ian boomed, lifting Hiccup up in a lung-squashing hug.

"Can't…breathe…"

Ian just laughed and plopped Hiccup back down.

Hiccup massaged his rib-cage, smiling shakily. Meg was standing with her hands clasped together in front of her face, beaming. "Oh Hiccup, of _course_ you have our permission." And then Hiccup was nearly bowled over as she, too, darted forward to give him a hug.

"Thank you," Hiccup managed to get out once she'd released him. It was no wonder Astrid's means of showing affection were so forceful when this was what her parents were like. "And um…thanks for not killing me earlier in the week when I asked her to move in with me."

"Oh we considered it," Ian said with a grin. "But you're a good kid, Hiccup." He nodded once. "A good man. Even if you have a tendency to ask for forgiveness rather than permission."

Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief, the last vestiges of nervousness leaving his body as he did so.

"Does Astrid know?" Meg asked excitedly.

Hiccup chuckled once. "I haven't told her explicitly, but she knows it's coming. Just not exactly when."

Meg squeaked. Ian smiled wider.

"I just have one problem though," Hiccup said. "I have _no_ idea how to ask her."

The Hofferson's laughed.

"We can't help you with that one." Meg said, putting both hands on Hiccup's shoulders. "But if you want my advice? Don't overthink it."

"Agh he's going to anyway, Meg, that's useless advice."

Meg scowled, and it reminded Hiccup of Astrid so strongly that he snorted with amusement.

"Look," Ian said, crossing his arms. "At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how you ask the question. It's her answer that's important. And if she loves you enough – which we all know she does – she'll say yes regardless of how badly you stuff it up."

Hiccup blinked once in surprise. He hadn't thought of it that way.

Meg smacked her husband in the side. "_Ian."_

"No no…that…that actually helps." Hiccup said sincerely. "Thank you."

Ian smirked triumphantly at his wife, who scowled again.

"Aaanyway," Hiccup said, taking a step towards the door. "I'll let you get back to what you were doing. I, um…" he smiled self-consciously. "I look forward to having you as in-laws."

Meg shook her head with a warm laugh. "Hiccup, you've already been an honorary Hofferson for years."

"Thanks, Meg."

"Good luck, Chief." Ian said earnestly, and then added with a reassuring shoulder-pat, "Though I really doubt you'll need it."

And as Hiccup left the Hofferson's house, only one thought was coursing through his head.

_They said __**yes**__._

Hiccup didn't stop smiling for the rest of the day.


	8. The Question that Needed Asking

"Hey, do you mind passing me-"

Astrid already had a wrench in her hand, and passed it to Hiccup with a knowing smirk.

"Thanks."

Hiccup's prosthetic needed adjusting again. With Toothless around, he'd never had to be on his feet all day, every day. Now it was a necessity, and the old design had proved problematic for full-time land use. Though it had taken Astrid pointing out he was practically hobbling by the time the sun set each night before he'd done anything about it.

"You don't have to be stuck here with me while I fix my leg, Astrid." Hiccup inclined his head at the door. "Go and enjoy your day off."

"I already am." Astrid said, leaning against the wooden wall of the blacksmith. "I like watching you work."

Hiccup smiled at her for a moment, but his attention quickly returned to the scattered pieces of his prosthetic on the table.

Not that Astrid minded one bit. She'd meant what she said; there was something mesmerizing about how deftly his hands moved, and the razor-sharp focus he had when he was making or fixing something. She was also happy to be alone with her thoughts right now.

For a week after Hiccup had talked to her parents, she'd woken up every morning wondering if it was going to be the day he'd ask her. It never was. Then two weeks went by and she stopped thinking about it.

Sort of.

This whole marriage thing had been in the back of her mind for well over a year. And after spending a little time at the forefront of her thoughts when they'd first arrived at New Berk, it had returned there. But a few times over the month or so since she'd moved in, she'd caught Hiccup watching her with this searching look in his eyes, and it'd suddenly come hurtling back to centre stage. Every time it happened she'd almost ask him about it… but then he'd just smile and look away and well…for supposedly being the toughest Viking on Berk, she could never quite summon enough nerve to bring it up once that happened.

Had he changed his mind about proposing? Was that it? She knew he hadn't changed his mind about _her, _but maybe talking to her parents had made him realize it was too soon after losing Toothless…?

Astrid shook her head. There was no point in worrying about it. It was a matter of when, not if, and if he needed more time…so be it.

She let herself be distracted by Hiccup's slender, calloused hands as he worked. She watched as he took the seemingly disparate pieces of metal and wood that were littered across the table, and connected them meticulously together until they once again resembled his prosthetic. Astrid couldn't help but gawk. How he kept this all in his brain she'd never understand. Odin's beard, it was cool though.

Hiccup glanced up from his handiwork with a satisfied smile; when he noticed her expression, he raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Astrid shook her head again. "Nothing. Just… I wish I could see the inside of your head sometimes."

Hiccup laughed nervously. "Bit macabre, Az."

Astrid rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean." She nodded at the prosthetic. "Third time's a charm, right?"

Hiccup shrugged. "Here's hoping." He latched it back onto the stump below his knee, and then stood, jumping a few times in one spot to check he'd got the balance right. "Seems okay." Then he held out his hand. "Wanna go for a walk up to the point?"

"Sure."

As they set off, Astrid still couldn't help but wonder _Is he going to propose today, then? Is _that_ his plan?_

He didn't. And it wasn't. But three days later, Astrid got her wish.

* * *

"Az?"

"Mmmm?"

"Are you awake?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Can you open your eyes for me?"

Astrid groaned, and covered her mouth with her hand as she let out a huge yawn; her eyes slid open. The early morning light blinded her for a moment, and she blinked a few times until her eyes adjusted.

To her surprise, Hiccup's face was the first thing she saw. Surprising because she was lying on her side, facing away from his half of the bed. On a normal morning she would have to roll over to get this view.

Then her sleep-foggy brain figured out that the reason she was looking him dead in the eyes right now was because he was on his knees beside the bed.

On one knee, to be precise.

And suddenly Astrid was very, _very _awake.

"Before you say anything…" Hiccup said quickly, "Can I tell you how I would have proposed if we were back on old Berk? Before all this?" He took the hand she'd used to smother her yawn and held it gently.

Words weren't quite forthcoming yet, so Astrid just nodded.

Hiccup tucked a few stray strands of Astrid's hair behind her ear with his free hand, and smiled softly. "I would have taken you on a little tour of the Isle. Except I would've told you that I needed help with some Chiefing stuff so you wouldn't suspect straight away."

"And I would've immediately been suspicious because you _suck _at lying." Astrid said with a smirk. Ah, words. She finally managed some.

Hiccup gave her a good-natured eye-roll. "You would have come with me anyway."

"That's true."

"And we would have started at the Blacksmith forge."

"The forge?"

"Yep. I would have stood behind the counter and told you about how I spent most of my younger days pining after this beautiful, smart, talented Viking girl that was never, ever going to notice the scrawny smith's apprentice."

Astrid bit her lip, remembering the handful of times she had actually caught Hiccup watching her when they were kids, and at the time mostly just thinking he was weird.

Hiccup wove his fingers with hers, and squeezed her hand. "Then I would have taken you to the arena. Where said Viking girl _did_ start to notice the scrawny apprentice, but for all the wrong reasons. First, because he was constantly in the way, and then later because he was suddenly and inexplicably better than her in dragon training."

Astrid couldn't help but laugh. "I mean…yeah, okay. It irked me."

"I think 'irked' is a bit of an understatement, Az," Hiccup said with a chuckle. "Anyway, then we would have gone flying on Toothless around the coastline. Because he's the perfect wing-man." He waggled his eyebrows, grinning impishly.

She rolled her eyes, and laughed again. "Yes I caught the pun, dung-brain. Keep going"

"Jokes aside, that first flight with you changed everything. Not just how you saw me, not just our relationship, but the whole of Berk. The future of our people, the future of dragon-kind."

Astrid knew him well enough to recognize the flicker of sadness in his eyes, but it was gone as soon as it had appeared, replaced by a mischievous glimmer that she was similarly familiar with. "It was also the first time you hugged me. Which felt _awesome."_

"_Hiccup…_"

"And then I'd have taken you to The Cove, where the Viking girl first kissed the scrawny apprentice, and he thought maybe, just maybe, he might have a shot. Where the two of them spent hundreds of hours talking and goofing off as they grew up. Where one day the Viking girl, who had become a Viking woman, turned to the apprentice, who was still scrawny, and sprung a betrothal on him."

"Which got us both in trouble."

"Yes, which got us both in trouble." Hiccup lifted Astrid's hand to his lips, and kissed her knuckles. "But it was _completely_ worth it." He whispered with a smile. "And by that point you would have definitely figured out what I was up to, and so there would be nothing left for me to do but pop the question."

He paused, then said, "But I can't do any of that." She expected his features to crumple, but they didn't. His smile was the only thing that changed, shifting from playful to sincere as he continued. "And so for the last few weeks I've been racking my brains for some other way to propose that would show you how much you mean to me."

Astrid's insides melted. _That _was why he'd been stalling? "Babe…"

"But then I woke up this morning and realized that trying to plan a massive, unforgettable proposal was just a huge distraction from the very simple fact that I love you. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And the only thing standing in the way of that…was me. And the fact I hadn't just got down on one knee," he gestured at his pose, "and asked you to marry me."

Astrid leaned forward and kissed Hiccup hard on the lips, cupping his cheek with her free hand.

She felt him shake with laughter as he pulled away from her. "Let me ask you first, Az!" He said, the reverence in his eyes once again mingled with mirth.

"Sorry, I just got excited. You go."

"Thank you." Hiccup said, with one last chuckle. Then he took her other hand, and the mood abruptly shifted. "Astrid Hofferson," he said seriously, and Astrid felt her cheeks turn red. "You told me to wait until I meant it. Until I was asking you because _I _wanted to. Well I mean it with everything in me when I say that I am so, _so _ready to be your husband, and to be able to call you my wife. Will you…will you marry me?"

Astrid's answering smile was so wide it felt like it was going to break her face. "Of course I'll marry you, you beautiful scrawny idiot."

"Well thank Thor for that," said Hiccup with a grin. And then he leaned forward and kissed her. His fiancée.

And this time, there was no need for interruption.

* * *

_Author's Note: Hello lovely readers! Just popping in a quick word here to say that this story is definitely an "in-progress", and there will be more chapters to come in the future. Going forward, I'm planning on the chapters in this fic spanning the time between here (the proposal) and the reunion between Hiccup/Toothless and their families (a lot of ground, I know). I have quite a few things planned already, and I hope you'll enjoy them. Anywho, t__hanks for reading, and for all the love so far :D Every review/favorite/follow makes my day._


	9. Word Spreads

Hiccup's lips were numb. The rest of his body felt like it was going to combust, or explode, or both.

It had been maybe fifteen minutes – half an hour at most – since Astrid had officially become his fiancee, and in that time he'd done nothing but kiss her. He would have been more than happy to continue, but duty was calling. If they didn't hurry up, someone would likely get tired of waiting for the Chief or General to surface for the day and come barging into the tent. Which, given their current lack of a lock (or even a front door), they had no capacity to stop.

With one final peck on Astrid's cheek, and a mumbled "C'mon you," Hiccup reluctantly rolled off of their bed and stood up.

"Can't we stay in here a bit longer?" Astrid groaned, sinking backwards into the pillows and splaying her arms dramatically across them.

Hiccup smirked, putting his hands on his hips. "What happened to Astrid "work before play" Hofferson?"

She raised her eyebrows with an impish grin. "Oh didn't you hear? She got engaged this morning."

"Really?" Hiccup said with mock surprise, and found himself leaning onto the foot of the bed.

Astrid kicked the blankets aside, looking smug. "Mmmhmm."

Hiccup shook his head. "You're going to get us both in trouble."

Astrid chuckled, and Hiccup was about two seconds away from clambering back onto the bed and kissing her again when she mumbled "What did Gobber say when you told him you were going to propose?"

The moment abruptly fizzled; Hiccup felt his face slip into an embarrassed grimace before he could stop it. He reigned it in in an instant, but Astrid still managed to catch it. Her mouth popped open and her eyes grew wide. "He doesn't know?"

"Not yet."

"But—"

"I know, I know, but c'mon Astrid, he's _notoriously_ bad at keeping secrets."

Astrid looked inclined to argue with him until he reached the end of his sentence, which earned him a single snort of laughter and a nod. "Okay, that's fair." She rolled her shoulders. "I guess that's the first order of business today then."

"I guess so." Hiccup ran a hand through his perpetually scruffy hair. "We should probably tell my Mom at the same time."

Astrid gasped, looking horrified. "You didn't tell Valka either?!"

"No…?"

Astrid pelted a pillow at him. "Hiccup!"

"What?" Hiccup picked up the pillow from where it had landed, and held onto it in case he needed to use it as a shield.

"She's your _mother_!"

"C'mon, she's not interested in that stuff, Az."

Astrid rolled her eyes. "She is when it's _you_, dung brain."

"I guess…" Hiccup stared at the pillow in his hands. "I dunno. It's the first big life milestone she'll actually be around for. Feels kinda weird in a way." He looked back up. "But in fairness, I haven't really told _anyone_, 'cept for your parents. And Eret."

Astrid huffed an exasperated sigh. "Why does Eret know before your family does?"

Hiccup lifted his pillow shield higher. "He asked me directly! And like you said, I suck at lying."

Astrid watched Hiccup's face intently for a moment or two, clearly searching for something in his face, though he couldn't quite figure out what it was. But she seemed to find it eventually; she shook her head, as if to clear whatever thoughts were going through her mind. "Well at least he's discreet, I'll give you that. But we have _got _to tell Valka and Gobber before we do anything else today. Even breakfast." Her gaze glazed over a little as she considered what their next steps should be. "Then once they know, we'll have to round up the gang and tell them, too. And then we'll probably have to announce it to the tribe as soon as possible because Odin knows we won't be able to keep this low key for any length of time once Gobber knows." Her eyes refocused on Hiccup; an amused smile spread across her face. "You can put the pillow down, babe."

"You sure?" Hiccup said, grinning back immediately out of habit and already lowering it.

Which was a mistake, because Astrid pegged the other pillow at him with a very un-Astrid-like giggle. It hit him square in the face.

Hiccup's eyes narrowed but his smile grew, and he pelted them both back at her, one straight after the other.

She batted them away, cackling with delight. "Stop, stop!"

Hiccup chuckled. "You started it, Hofferson." He nodded at her clothes, crossing his arms. "And if we've got announcements to make, you'd better get out of that nightgown."

"You're right," Astrid said coyly, and rose from the bed. She padded the few steps necessary to reach Hiccup, and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Which means _you," _she continued, "Need to get out for a few minutes." And in one deft movement she spun him around, and pushed him gently towards the entrance of the tent.

"Why?" Hiccup protested, stumbling a little as he turned back to face her.

Astrid put her hands on her hips. "Because if you don't then we'll both get…distracted." She replied, her eyes sweeping quickly down the length of his lanky frame before returning to his face. She grinned. "Out."

Hiccup bowed deeply at the waist, and said with no small amount of mischief, "As you wish, milady."

Astrid snorted, and then shooed him away. "Go amuse yourself outside. I won't be long."

For perhaps the first time in his life, Hiccup did as he was told without further protest, and ambled towards the exit. Though he couldn't help but pause just before he left, to steal one last look at his beautiful, ferocious, inimitable fiancée.

"Hiccup, I'm serious." Astrid laughed.

Hiccup grinned, and slipped through the flaps of the tent.

* * *

It was rare for Hiccup and Astrid to walk around holding hands, but not totally unheard of.

As such, the sight of the pair making their way through New Berk with fingers intertwined garnered a few curious looks and some smiles, but nothing more.

"Where should we look first, Chief?" Astrid whispered conspiratorially as they passed by the first few newly constructed houses of the village.

"We should swing by the dining area. Mom's always up early, so if she's there getting breakfast we can pull her aside. Gobber usually meanders 'round the forge for a while before getting food so we can tell him afterw—"

"'Morning!"

They were so engrossed in their own business that the simple greeting made them both jump.

Eret was a little ways ahead of them, heading their way; he jogged the few steps necessary to close the gap, smiling broadly.

"Hey Eret," Hiccup replied in a voice that was a full octave higher than normal. He coughed; Astrid jumped again, then needled him with a glare that was equal parts embarrassed and amused.

Eret's smile swiftly disappeared into a pensive line, as he beheld the two of them and their antics. "You," he said, pointing at Hiccup, "are always jumpy, but it takes a lot to startle _you, _Hofferson." He crossed his arms; not in a threatening way, but in the way a parent might when trying to pull rank with their children. "What's going on?"

Hiccup immediately started to sputter. "What? Nothing! Nothing's going on. Why would you think something's going on? Just the same old routine—"

Until Astrid very pointedly kicked his prosthetic and he shut up.

"Have you seen Valka or Gobber this morning?" Astrid said, the hint of a smile tugging at her lips.

Eret raised an eyebrow suspiciously, but he answered her regardless. "Both of them actually. Valka came to the forge just after sunrise looking for Gobber. She looked…" His forehead creased as he searched for the right word. "I dunno, rough I guess. Like she hadn't slept in a week." Hiccup's heart lurched. Eret scratched his bicep and shrugged. "I figured I'd leave them alone to talk and get some grub first instead."

Hiccup and Astrid shared a fleeting, loaded look that was not lost on their friend.

"Seriously, _what_ is going on? As your second in command I—" Eret paused suddenly. "Wait." Comprehension rippled across his features. "Are you—?" He stared at their intertwined hands, then at both their faces, looking mildly shocked. "You asked her, didn't you?" He whispered, looking at Hiccup.

Hiccup glanced sideways at Astrid — who grinned, and squeezed his hand gently as if to say 'go on then' — before looking back at Eret and quietly replying "Yeah." A smile wriggled its way onto his face, despite the small but rapidly growing part of him that was now worried for his mother. "About an hour ago."

"That's…wow. That's really great guys." Eret murmured back sincerely.

"Thanks, Eret." Astrid said at a normal volume, then added softly, "And thanks for not telling anyone. Hiccup said you've known this was coming for a while."

Eret went slightly pink, but simply replied. "Of course." He jerked a thumb back in the direction he'd come from. "I suppose that's where you're headed now then, right? To tell Valka and Gobber?"

His perceptiveness shouldn't have surprised either of them by that point, but both Hiccup and Astrid flinched a little at how quickly Eret had figured out exactly what was going on.

"Um…yes." Astrid replied after a second of stunned quiet.

Hiccup bit his lip, deliberating, then hesitantly said, "Hey Az…?"

The second he spoke her iridescent blue eyes were on his face, focussing all of their attention on him with a curious expression.

"I know we said before that we'd go talk to them together but would you…would you mind if I go alone?" He started rambling again. "You were right, I should have done all of this earlier but it sounds like Mom –"

"Hey." Astrid interjected softly. Hiccup stuttered into silence. "It's fine." She lifted the hand she was holding and kissed his knuckles once before adding "Just come find me when you're done, okay?"

Hiccup nodded, then used his free hand to lightly graze her jawline with his middle and pointer finger. "What did I do to deserve you?"

Astrid smirked. "Ending a three hundred year war might've had something to do with it."

"Please, you're just as responsible for that as I am."

"I mean, you're also a phenomenal kisser—"

Eret cleared his throat loudly, causing the pair to jump for the third time that morning, having clean forgotten about his presence in the midst of their flirtatious exchange.

Astrid beamed at their second in command, not perturbed in the slightest. "Hey Eret, have you got anything that urgently needs doing right now?"

"Not that I know of, no."

"Good. You're coming with me."

Now it was Eret's turn to sputter. "Oh. Um. Okay. Sure…where, exactly?"

"We've got to tell the gang before we announce it to the rest of the village, or they'll kill us."

Eret barked a laugh. "You do have a point."

Astrid turned back to Hiccup and gave him a swift but firm kiss on the lips. "I'll see you soon." She whispered, squeezing his hand a final time; then she released it and started off up the hill for the dining area, her long blond hair swishing across her back as she went. Hiccup smiled dreamily after her, momentarily distracted from the familial turmoil he was about to go and investigate.

"C'mon Eret!" Astrid called out cheerfully after a few steps, not waiting for him to join her.

Eret and Hiccup locked eyes for a second; Eret chuckled.

"What?"

Eret just shook his head, still grinning. "She's something else, isn't she?"

Of all things, Hiccup blushed. "She is." He said quietly, the smile on his face so big it kind of hurt.

Eret patted him firmly on the shoulder. "Congrats mate," He glanced up the hill to where Astrid was still walking off with purpose (and almost out of sight), then turned back to Hiccup. "I guess I'd better—"

"Yeah, you go—"

"See yah."

"Bye." Hiccup laughed, and Eret jogged to catch up with Astrid.

And just like that, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock was left completely alone on the path, gifted with a rare moment of silence and solitude in the busy cacophony that was life on Berk. Well, New Berk now. The content smile on his face drifted into something more melancholy as his thoughts drifted back to his mother, and the possible reasons she might have sought Gobber's council. And then to the two figures in his life that he wanted to share his good news with, but who were no longer with him.

Hiccup took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. He allowed himself a minute or two of missing them. Then he swallowed his sadness, opened his eyes again, and head off in the direction of the forge.

* * *

"Gods, you walk fast." Eret puffed, slowing into a brisk walk as he caught up with Astrid at the top of the hill.

Astrid shrugged, but did not slow her pace. "Always have. Besides, everyone will start moving off to start their day soon. It makes my life easier if we can catch them all before they finish breakfast."

"True."

They continued on in comfortable silence for a minute or two, nature quickly giving way to more and more half constructed buildings and newly erected houses. As they rounded a corner and the dining area came into view in the distance, Eret broke the quiet. "If you don't mind me asking…why are you bringing me along?"

Astrid stopped so abruptly that Eret took a few steps past her before he realized. She closed the gap, and placed her hands on her hips with a serious expression on her face. "You're our second, aren't you?"

"Um. Yeah." Eret replied. "But what's that got to do with anything?"

Astrid stared at the ground for a moment before meeting his eyes again. "That position means that if either Hiccup or I can't both be present for important things, you step in." She smiled warmly. "But mostly it's because you're our friend." Astrid resumed walking, this time at a slightly more leisurely speed, and he fell into step beside her. "And like I said, I'm telling our friends before we tell everyone else. So you need be there, okay?"

"Okay." Nothing more was said until they reached the assembled Berkians, who were at various stages of downing their food. They were talking loudly enough that Eret didn't have to lower his voice all that much in order to ensure that no one heard him but Astrid. "He's lucky to have you, you know."

Astrid looked up at him wide-eyed, surprised at the compliment. She stared for a moment, but then her eyes softened. "I'm lucky to have him, too. We all are." She turned to face the tribe, and so did he. They spotted Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Snotlout and Fishlegs in the middle of the throng of tables, engaged in a loud but unintelligible conversation. Fishlegs was gesturing widely, sending blobs of porridge flying in all directions; the rest of the group had to duck at regular intervals. Astrid shook her head, grinning. "This is going to be interesting."

"Berk is many things," Eret said, grinning too. "But never, _ever _dull."

Astrid laughed. "You're not wrong." She raised a hand to catch the group's attention.

Snotlout was the first to notice. They watched as he jostled Fishlegs' shoulder (which caused him to flick more porridge across the table they were seated at), and after a few seconds, all four heads turned. Astrid waved them over; the quartet exchanged a flurry of perplexed glances, but eventually obliged. Fishlegs took his bowl of porridge with him.

"Settle a debate for us if you will, Astrid." Tuffnut drawled as they wandered towards her. "Snotlout and I are of the opinion that you get less wet if you run through rain. Fishlegs and my troubled, misguided sister believe that you get more wet running and should, in fact, walk. Your thoughts?"

Astrid smacked her forehead. "_That's _what you were arguing about?" Eret didn't think she would bother answering such an inane question, but then she sighed, and replied with surprising vigor, "Of course you run. What idiot casually strolls through rain unless they want to get drenched?"

Tuffnut punched the air triumphantly. "Victory!"

"That's a first for you." Ruffnut said with a sneer. "And almost definitely a last."

"Is there any reason you got us all to come over, or can I go get more food?" Snotlout whinged, crossing his arms.

"You know I never ask you to do anything if there isn't a reason for it," Astrid said patiently.

"Well go on then, what is it?"

"Wait, where's Hiccup?" Fishlegs piped up anxiously.

It finally dawned on the rest of the group that there was a rather notable absentee from their gathering.

"Let me guess, he… tripped and fell off a cliff."

"Or got stuck in a cave."

"Or lost his other leg."

Astrid rolled her eyes. "He's at Gobber's. He'll come up later."

"Ah. Relationship troubles." Tuffnut nodded sagely.

Snotlout looked Eret up and down with narrowed, suspicious eyes.

"What? No! Why— you know what, never mind." Astrid scowled and shook her head. "Just… come with me."

She turned and started walking off in much the same manner that she had on the path – with purpose, and without checking to see if anyone was following her. Though after years of deferring to her and Hiccup for leadership, they followed without question.

Astrid did not take them far. They walked for a few minutes, with Ruff and Tuff bickering lightly the whole way, interspersed with exclamations from Snotlout and occasional slurping sounds from Fishlegs as he finished his porridge. Eret wasn't sure where Astrid was leading them until they reached the western outskirts of the village and veered right, through a smattering of trees and dense shrubbery.

The point. Of course.

They emerged from the greenery and there it was, jutting out into the sky. Eret felt a lump form in his throat. From the sudden hush that fell over the rest of the group, he wagered that the others were having a similar reaction. Not for the first time did he feel a surge of empathy for his adoptive tribe. He'd only been a dragon rider for a little over a year, and yet he keenly felt the absence of their scaly friends. The people of Berk had lived among them much, much longer; the strength they exhibited just by getting on with life in the face of such a loss was astronomical. The fact his present company hadn't completely gone to pieces astounded him. Hiccup even more so.

He knew why Astrid had picked this place for privacy – as far as he knew, most people avoided coming down here, for obvious reasons. And if someone did happen to wander down, they would be able to see them coming before they'd be in earshot. No wonder she was the General of Berk.

Astrid didn't take them all the way down; she walked a few paces down the grassy descent and then stopped, whirling around to face them.

"Are you actually going to tell us why we're here, or do we have to guess?" Ruffnut grumbled.

"I'm getting there, Ruff—"

"She's going to tell us where the Hidden World is," said Snotlout, an unusual level of awe in his voice. "Aren't you?"

Astrid frowned. "You know I can't do that, Snotlout," she said gently.

"Why not?" Snotlout snapped. "It's not like we're going to tell anyone."

"You can trust us, Astrid." Fishlegs added quietly.

"I do trust you. All of you. But it's just too important. I'm sorry." The group looked visibly deflated. "Hey, even Hiccup and I don't know exactly where it is, and we've _been_ there." She swallowed loudly – Eret wondered if she was trying to rid herself of a lump in her own throat. "We only found it because of Stormfly." Astrid wrung her hands. "But that's not why I want you all here."

Fishlegs gasped. "Is Hiccup dying?"

"No!" Astrid exclaimed with a slightly exasperated laugh. "He's _fine_. Really." She paused then, and scratched her elbow nervously. "He…ah…asked me to marry him this morning."

There was a succession of surprised reactions as the information registered.

"Wait, seriously?" Ruffnut was the first to speak.

"Yeah."

"Did you say yes?" Tuffnut asked.

Astrid cocked her head to the side. "What do you think?" she replied, with a valiant attempt at deadpan. The happy twinkle in her eyes ruined the effect.

"Well I don't know—."

"I said yes, Tuff. Of course I said yes."

Fishlegs made an excited sort of squeaking sound and nearly bowled Astrid over in a hug.

Snotlout suddenly rounded on Eret, stabbing an accusatory finger at Eret's chest. "You knew before we did. How?"

Eret squirmed uncomfortably, unsure of how to answer in such a way that wouldn't offend them, or clue anyone in as to just how long he'd known Hiccup had been planning this for. "Ah…"

"He guessed." Astrid quickly interrupted, glancing past Fishlegs' stocky frame as she wriggled out of his grasp. "Only like half an hour ago."

"I ran into them on the way to breakfast." Eret added for good measure; Snotlout, however, didn't seem particularly interested in the qualification. He'd already moved on from his momentary animosity.

"It's about bloody time you two got hitched." He said thickly, looking at Astrid.

Astrid punched Snotlout lightly on the forearm. "Hey, don't go getting all emotional on me."

"Still have time to ditch him and date me?"

Astrid snorted once and pushed him away. "Wow, Snotlout. I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that."

"Nah, I'm kidding." Snotlout puffed his chest out. "I'm going to go voyaging and marry a beautiful woman from far way and make you all jealous."

"Mmmhmm."

Ruffnut crossed her arms. She made no move to embrace her friend, but she was grinning. "I mean, you know I'm happy for you guys, right? You don't need me to make a dumb speech or something?"

Astrid shook her head. "If you did then you wouldn't be Ruffnut I grew up with."

Ruffnut gave her a thumbs up, then smirked. "If you get all domestic I'm going to kick your butt."

"I'm counting on it."

"I still don't get why Hiccup isn't here too." Tuffnut said, stroking what he'd been insisting for months was his beard (despite everyone knowing it was just his dreadlocks tied up around his chin).

"I told you, he's at Gobber's."

"Yeah but _why._"

Astrid sighed. "He didn't tell Valka or Gobber he was going to propose."

There was a collective groan.

"No offence Astrid," Fishlegs said, "but for a smart person, Hiccup does some dumb things sometimes."

Astrid chuckled. "None taken - I completely agree."

"Three cheers for the happy couple, and the massive party we'll eventually get to have!" Tuffnut crowed, and the group obliged with gusto, causing Astrid to turn a deep shade of pink.

And when the noise subsided — and Astrid had stopped blushing— they began to make their way back to the village.

_Meanwhile…_

The forge was uncharacteristically quiet; that alone would have been enough to put Hiccup on edge. It certainly didn't make him feel any less worried than he already was.

A soft sea breeze rustled through the tall green grass that seem to be everywhere on New Berk. Hiccup plucked a swatch of it as he walked; he needed to have something to do with his hands.

As he got closer, he could hear a faint mumble of conversation from out the back. In an effort to respect their privacy, he made as much noise as he possibly could as he approached, deliberately knocking things as he went so they could hear him coming. It seemed to work, for when he rounded the corner both Gobber and Valka were already facing him, mouths closed. They were sitting at the main work bench on make shift seats made out of tree stumps. He raised a hand awkwardly in greeting. "Hey."

Valka smiled warmly at him, but Gods, Eret was right – he'd never seen his mother look so…so fragile. Like she'd been crying. She hadn't even cried when the dragons left, and she'd spent half a lifetime among them. Hiccup's heart sunk. He felt like the worst son in the world.

"'Morning," Gobber said gruffly (though in all honesty, he said most things gruffly). He glanced behind Hiccup. "Where's your other half?"

Odin's beard, Eret and Gobber were bloody peas in a pod…

"She's…talking with the gang. It was a "time is of the essence" kinda thing."

"Is everything alright?" Valka asked.

"Yeah." The corners of his mouth twitched, but he finally (_finally_)managed to hold in a grin. He swatted at the ground with his grass swatch. "Actually the two of us we were coming to find you, originally. Both of you. 'Cept we ran into Eret and —"

Gobber swore under his breath. "Eret needs to learn to keep his mouth shut."

"Pot calling kettle?" Hiccup raised an eyebrow.

"Ack, respect your elders." Gobber said, swatting him away half-heartedly. "So why're you here then?"

Hiccup shook his head. "Uh—uh." He looked to Valka. "You first."

His mother met his gaze, but stayed silent. Hiccup sighed. One of the traits he admired about Valka was her unwavering honesty; if she couldn't be truthful, she wouldn't say anything. But he wasn't about to leave this unresolved.

"Mom, there's clearly something going on." He appealed to Gobber. "There's something going on, isn't there."

"I...er..." Gobber struggled with himself for a moment, before relenting. "Ack, come on Valka, he'll understand."

"Mom?" Hiccup said gently.

Valka regarded him for a long time; then she sighed, too. "If I don't tell you myself, you'll just pester Gobber until _he_ does, won't you?"

Hiccup dragged over the nearest available tree stump and sat down. "If that's what it takes to find out what's wrong, then yes."

She huffed a sad little laugh. "You remind me so much of your father sometimes." Then she took a deep breath, and said quietly, "I'm thinking of leaving. Not forever," she added quickly, when she saw the shock and hurt on Hiccup's face. "I would visit. Of course I would visit. But Berk wouldn't be…home, as such."

Hiccup fiddled with his swatch of grass, trying to figure out what to say. All he managed was a halting "O…kay."

"I don't know who I am without them, Hiccup. You probably understand that the most out of anyone." A cluster of tears sprung to her eyes, but did not fall. "I chose dragons over my people, my husband, my own _child_—"

"Mom—"

"I did." Valka insisted with quiet force. She sighed again, and continued. "As much as I love dragons, and I loved my life with them, there are many, many things I wish I had done differently. But I can't change them now."

She looked to Gobber, who had been silently observing the conversation with his head resting in his one remaining palm. "You were there for Hiccup and Stoick when I wasn't, and I will never be able to express how grateful I am."

Gobber shook his head. "You don't 'ave to."

"All the same," Valka murmured, putting a hand on her old friend's shoulder. "Thank you." She then turned back to her son, and reached out to hold both of his hands in her own. The grass swatch fell to the ground. "You made the right call, sending them away. I firmly believe that. But I…without them…I'm an outsider here. I have no place. Even you don't really need me anymore."

"Yes I do." Hiccup replied immediately, trying not to sound like a whiny child.

Valka smiled sadly. "No, you don't." She squeezed his hands. "You grew up into exactly the kind of man I always hoped you'd be, and that is a testament to your friends, to Gobber, to Astrid, to your dad," Valka leaned forward, and cupped his chin gently with one hand. "And to you, son." She held his eyes for a moment, before withdrawing completely, folding her hands neatly in her lap. "But not me. There's nothing I can give you that you don't already have."

Silence fell for a long minute.

"But I just got you back." Hiccup said in a small voice.

"Oh my sweet boy," Valka slid off her seat and into a kneeling position before him. She smoothed a hand across his messy mop of hair. "You still have me. And I'll return whenever you need me." At long last, the tears in her eyes fell down her cheeks. "But I need to find a new purpose."

Hiccup's mind was racing, and he couldn't find words for what felt like an eternity. But Gobber was right. He did understand. As much as he loved her, and as much as he knew that she loved him, he also knew what it felt like to not fit in, how soul destroying it was to feel like no-one needed you. If she had to go away to not feel like that anymore…then that was what she needed to do. And as much as he detested to admit it…she was right. He would be okay without her.

Hiccup knelt down too, and enveloped his mother in a fierce hug. He felt her jolt in surprise, but then she was hugging him tightly back. "I'll miss you when you go." He whispered.

"And I'll miss you when I'm away."

The hug lasted for a long time, neither one of them wanting to be the first one to end it. But when they did break apart, it was Hiccup who let go first.

He glanced up to Gobber, who was looking relieved. "Mom's right though, we all owe you so much. You're family." Hiccup said simply. "You always have been."

"Ah stop tha', you're gonna make _me_ cry, kid." He replied thickly, and patted Hiccup's shoulder. "But thank yeh."

Hiccup and Valka returned to their seats, and a sort of peaceful quiet settled between the trio for a time, until Valka said "Well now that we've aired my news…what were you coming down to tell us?"

"Oh yeah," Hiccup laughed nervously. "Right" He turned to Gobber. "It's probably a good thing you're sitting down."

Gobber raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Hiccup smiled tentatively. "I proposed to Astrid this morning."

He heard Valka gasp; Gobber looked like someone had slapped him in the face with a fish. "What?"

"I propo—"

"No, no I heard yeh," Gobber interrupted. "You'd better not be yanking my leg, Hiccup."

"I promise you, I'm not."

There was a pause as Gobber let the news actually sink in; Hiccup watched his face go from a distrusting frown to a huge, toothy grin, and then the Blacksmith lunged for him, hauling Hiccup into a bone-breaking hug and spinning him around. "YES! Oh thank Odin!"

"Ouch—Gobber—"

"Whoops, sorry." Gobber set him back down clumsily. "I'm just a wee bit excited."

"You keep it so well hidden," Hiccup chuckled, wincing once as the pressure on his upper body was released.

Valka embraced him then, far less roughly than Gobber had but with no less love behind it.

"Congratulations." She whispered in his ear.

"Reckon you could stick around until the wedding?" Hiccup asked softly.

"Of course. I wouldn't miss it for anything." When she released him, he noticed her hastily wipe more tears from her cheeks.

Hiccup scratched the nape of his neck nervously. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before asking her."

Valka's forehead creased. "Sorry?"

"Isn't that why you're…?"

"Oh gods, Hiccup, not at all." Valka shook her head, as if to reiterate. "I'm glad you told us before the rest of the village, but I never expected...that would be hypocritical of me. And besides," she said, gesturing to Gobber, "we both knew it was matter of when, not if."

"Then why…?"

"I'm just…your father would be so proud of you. As am I."

He expected the words to hurt, but they didn't. Instead he just felt this strange sense of…peace. Like his father was there with him somehow, and was letting him know that yeah, he was proud. Hiccup smiled. "I think he wanted Astrid to be his daughter-in-law a long time before it was even remotely a possibility."

"She's an impressive young woman." Valka replied, then added with the first proper smile Hiccup had seen from her all morning. "And you bring out the best in each other."

The observation wasn't surprising in any way — he already knew it to be true — but it was still nice to hear. "Thanks Mom."

"So when do you plan on telling the rest of the village?" Gobber asked.

"Before they all leave breakfast today, if they haven't left already. Otherwise it'll have to wait until dinner. I'm not going to call an official meeting over it."

"Fair enough." Gobber leaned forward on his knees and pushed himself to his feet (well, foot and peg). "We'd best get goin' then. Look at the horizon."

Valka and Hiccup looked out towards the sea; indeed, the sun was well and truly up, and higher in the sky than it typically was when people started work for the day.

Then Gobber's stomach growled, and all three of them started laughing.

"Let's go get some breakfast."

* * *

The rumble of chatter could be heard long before the dining area was in sight.

"Sounds like the bulk of Berk is still here." Valka said, and when the dining area eventually came into view, it certainly looked to be the case.

"Good luck," Gobber mumbled. "I'm getting some food."

Valka simply smoothed down his hair, smiled, and then left to find breakfast, too.

Hiccup spotted Astrid off to the side, talking with her parents. He waved to her, but it was her father who noticed him first. He responded with a warm smile and a single nod, and then Hiccup watched as Ian Hofferson put a hand on his daughter's shoulder, and point directly at him. Astrid's head spun around, scanning the crowd for a few seconds until their eyes met. Hiccup grinned; Astrid immediately excused herself and began walking towards him.

Hiccup open his arms before she was even close enough to reach him, but she practically ran the last few steps as she approached. He pulled her close and she hugged him back tightly. They both needed the physical contact; it had been a big morning for everyone.

"I told my parents just then, but you probably guessed that."

Hiccup _mmhhm-_ed into her hair.

Astrid continued with her status report. "We managed to keep everyone here, though no one knows why yet. They're getting a little restless." She pulled away then but took his hand, still tethering him to her. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah."

Astrid's eyes narrowed; she knew she wasn't getting the full story.

Hiccup kissed her temple. "I'll tell you later."

"Okay."

"How'd the gang take the news?" Hiccup asked softly, nodding at where their friends where assembled a little ways away from them.

"They were ecstatic." Astrid replied with a grin. "What did Gobber and Valka say?"

"Exactly what you'd expect. Speaking of," He squeezed her hand. "We should announce this thing before Gobber explodes."

At his words they both looked to where the blacksmith sat, a little ways away in amongst the throng; he was practically bouncing off his seat as he ate his porridge. They shared a conspiratorial giggle, and Astrid nodded.

Hiccup went to release her hand and turn away from her, but she held on. "Hey Hiccup?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Hiccup beamed back at her with a smile brighter than the sun. "I love you too." He gestured to a nearby table that was mostly empty of people. "Shall we?"

As a way of response, Astrid stuck the tips of her thumb and pointer finger in her mouth and let rip an ear splitting whistle that immediately drew everyone's attention.

Conversations petered out and died as the pair clambered up onto the table.

The area was flat and noise carried, and so Hiccup didn't have to shout too loudly to be heard. "Thanks for hanging around everyone. I promise we won't keep you long, we just have a really quick announcement we need to make before you start your day."

Hiccup looked back to Astrid, grinning, before he faced the crowd again. "It's taken years, and some of you probably think it's well overdue, but as of this morning, Hofferson here is officially becoming a Haddock."

His words were met with a degree of confusion. No one really reacted; the congregation stayed quiet.

Astrid shook her head, laughing. "We're getting married guys," she clarified.

And the crowd erupted.

* * *

_Authors note: Told you this story was in progress :) I'll likely update this chapter at some point, but I wanted to get it out so that I could start on some of the future chapters I have planned. Hopefully the gap won't be as long between posting this one and the next. Thanks again for all the faves/follows/reviews! _


	10. Baby Talk

Weeks passed by in a flurry of activity. The people of Berk were in good spirits; a royal wedding was something one would only experience a handful of times in their life, and they were always a huge and rambunctious event. The excitement was palpable - but they had a village to finish building first.

And the seasons were changing.

When they'd arrived at New Berk it had been early summer, and building a new Great Hall had not been high on the list of priorities. Not when there were hundreds of people living in tents, and crucial amenities like outhouses and a blacksmith stall needing to be erected immediately. By and large the weather had been nothing but pleasant in the months afterward, and so the construction of a new Great Hall had been continuously put off in favor of other necessary projects. Besides, everyone seemed to enjoy eating outdoors anyway (if there was anyone who didn't, they weren't vocal about it).

While the days were still mild enough, the nights were progressively getting more and more icy. Winter was well and truly on its way, and a large indoor space had finally become a necessity again. Even though the Berkians had come to this realization about a month ago, and the hall would definitely be finished before the snow set in, meals on Berk were still currently an open-air affair. Though the big central bonfire had increasingly become necessary for warmth, and not just as a light source.

Tonight it was the coldest it had been since they'd arrived, and most people had retreated to their own dwellings to sit near private fires. A smattering of Berkians remained though, caught up in engaging conversations or still finishing their meals. Among them was the Chief and future Chieftess of Berk, both of whom had arrived separately (but equally as late) for dinner, after a particularly long day of work.

Hiccup and Astrid's council — and sometimes just their company — was always sought by many; it was rare for them to have any mealtimes together without interruption. Not that they minded — it was just another part of their roles on Berk, and by far one of the more pleasant aspects. Besides, ever since they'd moved in together they always had a bit of time alone at the beginning and end of each day. However, given the lateness of their arrival this particular evening, for the last half hour the two had been left to finish their dinner in peace. And it was nice.

Their respective days already discussed, conversation had drifted towards things that needed doing the next day, and in the coming weeks.

"Okay, hear me out — so the hill we're building the Hall on. The land in front is too steep for houses or farm land, right?"

Astrid narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her fiancé, and hummed an "Mmmhmm," around her last spoonful of food.

"And it's warmer here than on old Berk, too."

Astrid swallowed, then said, "I'm not sure where you're going with this, babe."

"Well, I was thinking we could build a massive deck."

_What the…?_ "A deck?"

"Yeah!" Hiccup confirmed with enthusiasm. "It'd have an amazing view, and we could have dances whenever we want, without having to move anything like we usually do."

"You know how much I love dancing." Astrid said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She felt a smile creep onto her face despite herself. Gods, his enthusiasm was infectious.

"Plus I think it would be good to still have an outdoor communal area. Once the Hall's finished all this," he gestured widely to indicate the eating area, "will have to go. The land's too useful. But if we build a deck, we make unusable land usable. We can still eat outside in the warmer months. And I know it's not, y'know, a necessity or anything, but I think this has been great. Brought us all closer. And we could never have done it at old Berk, the weather was too unpredictable."

He did have a point. "I'm listening..."

"And it'd be safe and accessible and multipurpose, like the Hall. If we started building it soon enough we could...I don't know..." He feigned nonchalance. "Use it for a certain wedding, maybe?"

Astrid could tell from the smug little grin that slipped onto his face as he finished his pitch that he thought bringing their upcoming nuptials into the equation was what would ultimately sway her into agreeing. She shook her head with amusement. "Alright."

"Wait, for real?" Hiccup said, sounding surprised that she'd agreed so quickly, but looking mightily proud of himself too.

"It's a good idea." She replied simply. "And for the record, I'm not agreeing to this just because you played the wedding card."

"I didn't think that for a second." Hiccup's smirk said otherwise.

She flicked a bit of her stew sauce at him, and he chucked a piece of bread at her in response, and then they both snickered.

"Can I suggest something though?"

"Of course." Hiccup said, picking up his spoon to finish eating.

"We should probably think about building ourselves a house first, babe." Astrid said, sliding her empty bowl to the side. "We're pretty much the only two people on Berk still living in a tent."

"Gods, you're right." Hiccup tore off a corner of his bread roll and dunked it into the last dregs of his stew. "You said you finished the store houses today, right?"

"Yeah."

"Awesome, we can start tomorrow. I'll ask Fishlegs if he can take my place with finishing Gothi's."

"Oh no, I didn't mean you had to abandon —"

"I'm not abandoning anything." Hiccup said around a mouthful of food. He swallowed, and added with a wry grin, "I'm delegating."

Astrid scrutinized his face, but when he showed no signs of distress or fatigue, she shrugged. "If you say so."

Hiccup rolled his eyes, and tugged a loose strand of Astrid's hair with a good-natured smirk. She swatted him away half-heartedly.

"So, what are we thinking?" Hiccup asked, resting his head in his hand as he leaned against the edge of the table. "Big fire place, study for me, weapons room for you, living room, bedroom...have I missed anything?"

Astrid laughed. "No, I think you've got everything. But..." She winced and bit her lip, cursing at herself internally for not being able to keep her stupid mouth shut. She should have stopped the "but" coming out. Except she'd blurted it without thinking and now it hovered in the air between them.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow, and Astrid sighed. He'd probe her until she finished the sentence anyway. She sucked in a short, steadying breath, leaned in slightly, and continued in a small voice. "I kind of thought we could maybe add an extra bedroom?"

"Why? Who for?"

"Y'know..." Astrid glanced around to ensure no one was in earshot before whispering "A kid. Our kid. Eventually."

Hiccup's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates and all color drained from his face. "Oh. _Oh._ Okay."

She fiddled with her spoon. "I know we've never really talked about it before but how do you feel about...that."

"_You_ seem pretty enthusiastic about the idea." Hiccup murmured, leaning in now, too, so that they could continue talking without being overheard.

Astrid tried to smother the smile that was intent on spreading across her face, and she almost succeeded. But a small grin managed to wriggle its way onto her lips nonetheless. "I mean obviously not right away, but someday, yeah, I'd love to have a child with you." The smile retreated again, disappearing back to where it came from and leaving only a sad, pursed line in its place. "But you...don't want that."

Hiccup's forehead furrowed. "Why do you say that?"

"Because you're as white as a whispering death right now and avoiding my question."

"Ah."

"It's just when you said 'our children' when we had that meeting a few months back, I kind of thought…but you obviously meant that as a general thing rather than like… 'our' our children."

Hiccup shook his head, a shy half smile smoothing out the frown lines. He reached his hand across the table towards her; she took it without thinking. "I'd love to have kids with you Astrid. Of course I would."

"But...?"

Hiccup sighed. "You'll say it's stupid."

"All the more reason to tell me. Then I can tell you it's stupid and you can stop worrying."

A tiny smile flashed across his features, but then Hiccup squirmed uncomfortably, the lines on his forehead reappearing as his mouth slipped back into a pensive frown.

Astrid squeezed his hand. "Come on Hiccup, talk to me. If you want it, and I want it, why aren't we having a little hairy Viking baby together one day?"

The light in Hiccup's emerald green eyes guttered. Then, in a voice that sounded older and sadder than she'd ever heard it, he said, "I don't think I'd survive it if I lost you, too."

The admission took her off guard. "Ah."

Whatever reason she'd been expecting him to give her, this certainly wasn't it. But now that he'd said it, she was upset that it hadn't occurred to her sooner. He'd lost his father and his best friend within twelve months of each other. Of course he'd be scared. She reached out her other hand so that she could clasp both of them around Hiccup's fist. "That's not stupid at all, babe."

"Or if I lost you _and_ the baby, I...I don't...I couldn't…" He stammered into silence, casting his eyes down at the table to avoid meeting her gaze.

Astrid sighed. She was perfectly aware of how dangerous childbirth was. How could she not be? There was a reason that there were less women than men in their tribe, and even less children. But she was strong, and she was willing to take the risk. Hiccup, it seemed, was not.

"Hey," she murmured, ducking her head so that he had no choice but to look at her. "I can't promise you that one of those scenarios won't happen." Hiccup shuddered, like she'd punched him square in the gut. "I wish I could, but we both know that I'd be lying. But Hiccup," she withdrew one of her hands so that she could gently nudge up his chin with her pointer finger. "What if they don't? Are you really willing to give up having a family because there's a chance that you might lose it?"

Hiccup started to open his mouth, but Astrid wasn't done talking.

"And if they do...well if the baby made it and I didn't, then you'd need to give that baby all the love and attention in the world. Times two, because I wouldn't be there to. And if it was both of us, me and the baby..." She returned her hand to his. "It would be beyond horrible, I know that. But I'm telling you right now that if it does, you're _not_ allowed to give up. Whatever it takes for you to still get up in the morning, you do it. Or I'll personally come down from Valhalla and throttle you. You hear me?"

It was tiny and crooked, but at long last a smile once again played at Hiccup's lips.

"You're not being stupid," she murmured. "You're just letting fear rule your head instead of hope. And that's not the Hiccup I know." Astrid cupped his cheek with her hand. "Please tell me he's still in there."

Hiccup leaned into her touch; the stubble on his jaw lightly prickled her fingers. "I'm here," he said softly.

"Good." They were both leaning forward enough that it took minimal effort for Astrid to bridge the distance between them and kiss him. Just once, lightly, on the lips.

She pulled away then, but not too far. Their noses were touching as she whispered "Because I don't want to lose you either."

"You never will." Hiccup murmured back.

Astrid withdrew all physical contact and looked at him steadily. "You can't guarantee that any more than I can guarantee I won't die in childbirth. I've seen you almost die more times than I can count."

Hiccup opened his mouth to disagree. But then he seemed to realize she was right, and closed it, looking thoughtful.

"Look, even best case scenario, it's almost guaranteed that there'll be a time where one of us has to live without the other. Now hopefully that's decades away but —"

"With love comes loss."

"Sorry?"

"Something Dad said to me once." The corner of his mouth quirked up, and a flicker of light returned to Hiccup's eyes. "And I guess what you're trying to say now, right?"

"Um…I suppose so, yes."

Hiccup stared deeply into her eyes with a searching gaze, not dissimilar to the looks she frequently gave him when she was trying figure out what was going on in his head. And then the clouds in his expression just suddenly…disappeared. "Okay."

"Okay…what, exactly?"

He smiled in earnest now, the half-hearted attempts of the last few minutes left for dust. "Let's add an extra bedroom."

Astrid didn't even try to hide the joy on her face. "Really?"

Hiccup nodded, taking her hand again so that he could brush his thumb against hers. "Really."

Suddenly feeling a strong desire to be closer to him, Astrid clambered across the table to sit beside Hiccup, and snaked her arms around his waist.

He made a noise somewhere between a chuckle and an embarrassed cough, but pulled her close all the same. "So we're going to be parents, huh?" Hiccup murmured into her hair.

"Eventually. I want a few years of having you to myself first." She peered up at him, grinning. "That okay with you?"

Hiccup's torso shook with laughter. "Definitely."

Astrid snuggled closer into his side. "So, any other ideas you wanna float?"

Hiccup chuckled again, and kissed her forehead. "Well there is one…"

And as the fire dwindled, and more and more people left for their homes, Astrid and Hiccup stayed seated side by side, making plans for the future.


	11. In the Dark Before Dawn

"Hiccup."

"Hggnnnnh…"

"Hiccup, wake up."

Hiccup's eyes cracked open a sliver. The world was pitch black, save for the small flare of light coming from a candle that – his eyes opened fully now – Astrid held firmly in her hand. The flames illuminated her grim expression and wide, alert eyes. He rubbed a fist across his face, scrubbing the residual sleepiness away.

"What's wrong?"

Her reply was a single word. "Trappers."

And then a low horn sounded in the distance.

* * *

Both Chief and General were still only half dressed as they burst through the flaps of their tent. Berk's lead scout stood a respectful distance away, leaning against a tree. He pushed off as soon as he saw them.

"What're we up against, Grunt?" Astrid said, pulling on her left boot with a rough tug.

"It's a fleet of about twenty or so as far as we can tell. They were spotted off the western peninsula about ten minutes ago; I came as quickly as I could. Sent Scruff to sound the alarm horn."

Through the trees in the distance, more and more flames flickered to life as the people of Berk were waking and getting prepared. That horn was for only one purpose, and everyone knew what it meant - danger. Hiccup fastened the last of the buckles on his chest. "You did well, Grunt." He extended a hand. "Thank you."

The lead scout scoffed before shaking it. "No thanks necessary, Chief." His mono-brow furrowed, and he combed his fingers through his grizzled beard. "So what's the plan?"

Hiccup glanced at Astrid, who was staring intently into the darkened sky, her mind clearly elsewhere, and then back at Grunt. "Can you give us a moment?"

Grunt nodded once and immediately withdrew, lumbering off – presumably - back to the cliff-side lookout.

Hiccup waited until he was out of sight before murmuring, "Az?"

His fiancé still didn't respond, and was only brought back to attention when Hiccup gently placed a hand on her forearm. "Mm?"

"What're you thinking?"

"Strategy. Provisions. Mainly why now."

"Sorry?"

Astrid folded her arms across her chest. "If they were bent on attacking us they could have rallied forces a lot quicker. We've been here for months, we've had time to regroup and rebuild. Why are they coming now?"

Hiccup faltered. She had a point. "I…don't know."

"Exactly. Neither do I. And that means they have the upper hand at the moment."

A tense silence fell between them as they considered what could possibly have prompted the trappers return. Then a horrible thought slithered into Hiccup's head, and his stomach leapt up into his throat. "What if they think all the dragons are here?"

Astrid's eyes grew wide, and then she swore so colorfully that he couldn't help but smile a little.

"C'mon." Hiccup put his hands on Astrid's hips and lightly kissed her forehead. "We've got work to do."

He felt her muscles relax, but her jaw remained clenched.

Hiccup simply took her hand, and started walking.

* * *

Two hours later, Hiccup and Astrid stood fully armored on the edge of the western cliffs, with half of Berk ready to fight beside them. An uneasy murmur of conversation bubbled around them but the leaders themselves were quiet, both scanning the pre-dawn darkness for some inkling of what awaited them.

This was how they remained for perhaps another hour or so, as the time left until daybreak trickled away and the sky gradually lightened. The ever-present breeze on New Berk all of a sudden turned freezing, as if in anticipation of the approaching warmth of the sun. Hiccup saw Astrid shiver out of the corner of his eye; he put out his arms without a word. The movement had her attention in an instant, and she glanced first at his outstretched limbs, then his face. Then she smiled softly, and shuffled to stand in front of him, still facing out towards the sea. He rubbed her triceps a few times, before enveloping her in a tight hug.

"Thanks."

"What can I say," Hiccup said, resting his head on her shoulder, "I have a hot bod."

Astrid snorted once, then muttered, "I hate you."

"I have six years of evidence to prove the contrary."

"Mmhmm."

Without warning, rays of sunlight shot out across the horizon. Though the sun itself was still not quite up, suddenly they were able to see their incoming adversaries more clearly. They could see the tiny specks of people on the decks, the scorch marks that still adorned the sides of many ships, the faction crests on sails, and at the top of each and every mast –

Astrid sucked in a surprised breath. "They're flying white flags."

"I can see that."

Astrid smacked Hiccup's arm, not taking her eyes off the ocean. "Do you buy it?"

Hiccup let his arms fall away as he considered. "I dunno. I mean, I want to but…I dunno. Do you?"

Astrid didn't answer. Which was an answer in and of itself.

"We have to hear them out though."

She didn't say anything in response to that either.

"Astrid?" Hiccup put a hand on her waist, gently angling her to face him.

When he finally got a glimpse of her expression, he was not surprised to see it once again crunched up in thought. She stared, unfocused, at the ground for a moment or two before making eye contact with Hiccup.

She did not look scared. Only determined. "I need to go."

"What?"

Astrid was already moving. "Ruffnut!" she yelled out, looking down the line of Berkians for her.

The dread-locked head of one Miss Thorston jutted out a few hundred meters away. "Yeah?"

Astrid beckoned her with a wave of her hand, and began walking away from the cliff side, back towards the forest that lay between them and the village.

"Wait, where're you-?"

Astrid whirled back to face him. "Stay here."

"But-"

"I mean it, Hiccup. Stay. Here."

"O...kay?"

Ruffnut reached her then; the pair started to walk off immediately, Astrid already telling her what she had planned. But he had to: "Az?"

All the things he wanted to say – _I love you, I trust you, be careful_ – lodged in his throat, and nothing came out. But they must have flashed across his features (or maybe they didn't, maybe she felt the same way). Because Astrid was suddenly back, both hands cupping his face, kissing him hard and swift on the lips. "I know," she whispered, and withdrew, already going back to Ruffnut. "I'll be back soon!"

Before he even had a chance to collect himself, the two women had jogged off into the forest and were gone.

Hiccup just stood there for a moment, temporarily stunned into inaction.

A shout of "Chief!" from the line of Berkians brought him back.

When he turned, it was not difficult to see what had prompted the cry. A black creature, though still miles away, was flying straight for the cliff side.

Straight for him.

For the briefest of instances, Toothless shot across his thoughts, but it was far too small to be the Night Fury.

"What is that?" someone said loudly. It was still too far away to tell, but it was rapidly getting closer and closer until-

"It's a bird," Hiccup said with thinly veiled curiosity. A huge, majestic looking thing, with ebony feathers, and claws that looked capable of doing serious damage. With a small scroll tied to its foot, just as they at Berk had done with the Terrible Terrors not so long ago.

A few people standing closest to Hiccup yelped in fright as the bird banked up with the wind, and then swooped with startling speed toward him. A small part of his brain registered that maybe he should have reacted similarly, but he remained motionless, too entranced by the lethal beauty of the animal.

It landed not two feet from him, and screeched once, the sound piercing the early morning stillness. It was massive; its wingspan was easily equal to Hiccup's entire body length. The bird eyed Hiccup with an intelligent, golden gaze that was almost impatient.

Hiccup crouched before it, nodding at the creature's leg. "May I?"

The bird screeched again…and extended its foot, like it knew exactly what he'd asked. Maybe it did.

Hiccup shuffled forward, and with gentle, nimble fingers he worked the string until it fell away, the scroll dropping onto the grass with a tiny, papery plop. The second it was freed of its cargo, the bird extended its mighty wings and shot upwards, soaring back along the breeze towards its owners.

"Wow," Hiccup breathed. Only when the bird was once again a small black smudge in the distance did he remember the tightly rolled message on the ground in front of him. He reached for it, and stood up again as he unfurled it.

The handwriting was small and scratchy, and the message was short.

_Bring two others - we will come unarmed._

* * *

_To be continued…_


	12. First Light

A solitary sail boat was slowly making its way towards the docks of New Berk. Hiccup, Valka and Eret stood side by side on the T-section of the docks, conversation crackling with anxious uncertainty as they watched the vessel's gradual approach.

"Are you sure about this, Hiccup?"

"Honestly? No."

"Hence the swords?"

Hiccup nodded. "Hence the swords."

Eret crossed his arms, frowning. "I don't like this. It feels…wrong."

"Which part?"

"All of it." Eret jabbed a finger at the fleet of ships in the distance. "I guarantee every single one of those trappers would rather die than surrender."

"People can change. You yourself are proof of that."

"Okay, yes, but I already wanted out and it still took Stormfly literally saving my life before I came around. What makes you think these guys are any different to Drago, or Grimmel? You tried reasoning with both of them and-"

"And I lost my dad and my best friend in the process," Hiccup snapped. "Yeah, I know."

Valka cleared her throat.

Both men glanced in her direction, momentarily forgetting their argument.

"I just think there's a really strong chance that their intentions aren't noble, that's all." Eret huffed.

"So do I." Hiccup said, his forehead furrowing.

"Then why-?"

"Because if we don't keep giving them the opportunity to change, they never will. And if nothing changes, what was the point of any of it?"

His words were met with silence.

The wind was gentler down here, but had an icy bite to it. Hiccup folded his arms, and stuck his hands under his armpits in an effort to stop his fingers freezing off. The sunlight glinting off the grey waves was harsh and cold. Hiccup squinted at the horizon, glaring at the slow-climbing sun like it was personally responsible for keeping him from his warm bed. He glanced back at Eret, who was scowling down at the decking.

Hiccup's shoulders slackened. "Nothing we say or do will ever make a difference with the Drago's and the Grimmel's of the world. But they're the exception," he murmured**, **"Not the rule."

He didn't think Eret would reply, but then he heard him mumble, "I really hope you're right." A short while later, Eret began to pace up and down the horizontal section of the pier.

Hiccup shielded his eyes with his hand and squinted at the water. The boat was close enough now to see three silhouettes obscured by the buffeting sails, but little else. He patted at his hip, feeling for his telescope, and cursed once when he realised it wasn't there. He must have left it at the tent. Of all the troll-brained-

"Son?"

He flinched at the sudden interruption. "Mm?"

"Where did Astrid go earlier?" Valka asked quietly.

"Ah, that." Hiccup shrugged. "I dunno. She just got a look in her eyes, grabbed Ruffnut and disappeared."

Valka surprised him by laughing.

"What?" he demanded.

"Oh nothing, nothing," she said, patting him reassuringly on the shoulder. "Just reminds me of someone else I know."

"Who?"

Valka raised an eyebrow; it made her look eerily like Hiccup for a second.

And then he realized. "Oh." Hiccup snorted. "Yeah, okay."

Valka chuckled once more. "But just like you, Hiccup, she'll have a plan."

"I know." Hiccup dragged a hand over his face, then gestured at the approaching ship. "It's _them _I can't figure out."

Valka stared out to sea and said in a low, contemplative voice, "My problem was that I stopped trying to." She turned back to Hiccup. "You see things for what they could be, instead of just accepting them as they are. It's one of the things I admire most about you."

Hiccup sighed. "But at what point does that become reckless? Don't tell Eret I said this, but I don't know how many more chances they should get. I stand by what I said before, but if it comes to the choice between keeping us all safe orcontinuing to give these idiots a shot at redemption, the people I love come first. _Berk _comes first."

Valka held his gaze. "A chief protects his own."

The corner of Hiccup's mouth quirked up; he changed the subject. "You're still planning on leaving straight after the wedding?"

Valka seemed surprised at the question, but nodded.

"Okay." He said stoically. He hadn't expected any other answer, not really.

"Oh Hiccup, you won't even notice I'm gone for at least a month or two." Valka said with a knowing smile. "I remember what it's like to be a newlywed."

His eyes bulged in their sockets. "Oh wow, we are _definitely _not having this conversation right now."

"Your father and I—"

"Nope!" Hiccup exclaimed, covering his ears in a somewhat childish attempt at blocking her out. Only when Valka started laughing again did he remove his hands, shaking his head with a mortified smile. "I swear to Thor, Mom—"

"Hiccup." Eret warned loudly, and the brief moment of levity fizzled. Hiccup glanced back at Eret out of instinct, then at the water where his second was pointing.

The boat was now only a mile or two from the pier, and approaching rapidly.

He heard Eret walk up to stand beside him, but Hiccup's attention did not waver. His hand dropped to the hilt of his sword, and remained there as the sail boat shuddered and creaked to a stop in the nearest vacant port, a couple hundred yards away from where they stood.

"Should we-?"

"No. They're coming to us."

The huge sail of the trapper's boat obscured the faces of those disembarking. When they finally emerged from behind the billowing fabric, a mixture of grim satisfaction and worn-out dejection flooded through Hiccup's body.

The Warlords. Of course.

True to their word, they bore no weaponry. He recognized two of them – thanks to Eret, he could now put names to the faces of Griselda the Grievous and Changhatai Khan – but the third was unfamiliar. The new warlord was only a teenager, perhaps fifteen or so. He had long auburn hair tied in a knot and, despite his young age, already towered over his associates. _Too young, _Hiccup thought with a pang of sympathy.

They hesitated for a moment or two before begrudgingly making their way up the pier, the dull thuds of their footsteps almost completely in unison. They stopped a good five yards from Hiccup, Valka and Eret, and said no words of greeting. A slight nod of the head was the closest they came to any kind of respectful acknowledgement. In fairness, Hiccup offered no pleasantries either. It seemed redundant.

Hiccup locked eyes with the adolescent newcomer – who, to his credit, didn't cower – before addressing the two older warlords. "What happened to the other guy?"

Griselda looked Hiccup up and down with a look of pure disdain. "He drowned."

"His name was Ragnar," said a quiet but firm voice, "And he was my father."

All eyes went to the youth, who was still squinting intensely at Hiccup like he was trying to solve a riddle. In a weird way, it reminded Hiccup of the way Stoick used to look at him sometimes, pre-Toothless. And then the words sunk in. _Oh._

Hiccup took a deep breath to try and shift the sudden weight in his chest. "I…I wish things could have been different," he said sincerely. "I'm sorry for your loss…err…?"

"Esbjörn," the boy said. Then, after a pause, he added "And thank you."

Griselda rolled her eyes; Changhatai made an "Ugh," noise and shook his head.

Hiccup regarded them both with a cool stare. "I know this isn't a social visit, so what do you want?"

Griselda screwed her nose up like she'd smelt rotten fish. "We wish to… negotiate.".

"Well that would be a first." His eyes narrowed. "Why now?"

"It seems no coincidence that after you obliterated our armadas and disposed of Grimmel that dragons rapidly began disappearing from every part of the known lands." Changhatai said through gritted teeth.

Hiccup was careful to not betray too much interest in this kernel of information. It wasn't that he was surprised, but…they really were safe. All of them. He nearly sagged with relief.

Nearly.

"So what are you proposing?"

"Berk trading a shipment of dragons every month in exchange for an agreed amount of goods and services from our respective peoples." Griselda said, watching Hiccup closely. "We won't attack or attempt to interfere with your business, and you will not cause any further disruption to ours."

It took a few moments for the words to process, but when they did… "Let me get this straight," he said slowly. "You want us to just _willingly_ hand over kind, intelligent creatures for you to keep in cages? To beat into submission o-or callously slaughter? Just so you can keep whatever power and wealth you've managed to claw together over the years? _Seriously?_"

Of the three of them it was only the newcomer, Esbjörn, who had the decency to look ashamed. Griselda and Changhatai just looked annoyed, like they thought they'd have to explain their proposition to him again because he was too thick to understand it.

Their expressions hit a nerve; he'd worked through the grief and the fear and the guilt, but there was one emotion that Hiccup had kept largely suppressed – white-hot fury.

"Gods, you're _unbelievable_!" Hiccup exploded. "I wanted to believe there was some good in you. I would have forgiven every horrible thing you've done if you were willing to even _try _and live a different life, but you're still the same cruel, selfish, _hateful_ people we all expected you to be. But you know what? Even if I was willing to agree to your proposal – which would _never_ have happened, I might add - you're too late. They're gone."

"What?" Griselda hissed.

"You heard me." Hiccup said with venom. "The dragons are gone. All of them." He threw his hands up. "You got what you wanted!" He saw Eret and Valka share a concerned look in his periphery, but it wasn't enough to dull his anger. "Except that's _not _what you wanted, is it? Because without dragons, you have no way of controlling people, and eventually they're going to realise _none_ of you are worth following by choice."

"You're lying," Changhatai growled, at the same time that Griselda snapped "Gone where?"

"What difference does it make?" Hiccup replied, his voice going lethally quiet. "Either way you're not getting what you came for."

"Argh, you _idiots_!" Griselda snarled, and spat on the ground in front of him. "We _will _find them, and when we do you, we will take every. Single. One."

"No," Hiccup said, staring her down. "You won't."

"You insolent little-"

"Gerofme!"

The yell came from behind him, back towards Berk. Griselda's perpetually angry face went slack, and she sucked in a startled breath.

Hiccup whirled around, his hand going immediately to his sword.

He needn't have worried.

_Astrid_.

And Ruffnut, of course. Both of them pushing along two shabby looking, plainly dressed strangers, with scratches all over their bodies and their hands bound.

"Hello warlords!" Astrid called out cheerily, and in a flash her earlier vanishing act finally made sense. "Thought you might want these back!"

They reached the docks then; Hiccup caught his fiancé's eye as they approached, and she winked at him surreptitiously before shoving the trapper she had custody of to his knees, Ruffnut following suit with her own captive.

Astrid put her hands on her hips and glared at the gathered warlords, all previous glee at outsmarting them gone from her face. "Anyone want to tell me why these two were caught sneaking around Berk?"

Hiccup followed her gaze back to Griselda, Changhatai, and Esbjörn, who were glancing between each other but remaining tight-lipped.

"No? How disappointing. Well, not to worry," Astrid said with a sardonic smile, "Your lackeys here already did." Astrid nudged the trapper in front of her with her foot. "Didn't you buddy?"

The trapper glared up at Astrid before spitting on the ground as close to her feet as he could manage.

Hiccup crossed his arms, and looked directly at Griselda with a stony expression. "Well he's clearly one of yours."

"Wh-I-we-"

But Hiccup's focus was already back on Astrid. "Let me guess – looking for dragons?"

Astrid nodded. "They were ordered to steal as many eggs as they could find, as well as any scales or claws they came across." She jabbed a thumb behind her. "They have a small row boat tied to the rocks on the eastern side of New Berk. Anything you want to add?" Astrid said to her captive, pushing his head down with a shove. "It's not like things can get much worse for you at this point."

The lips of the trapper at her feet were mashed into a thin, defiant line and stayed shut.

The trapper at Ruffnut's feet, however, cast her eyes up to the warlords, her face crumpling in defeat. "There was nothing, my lord. Lords." She amended quickly, glancing away from Changhatai to the others. "It's like they never existed."

The warlords' reactions to the now confirmed information were varied. Griselda looked even more livid than before, while Changhatai just stood gaping in shock. But Esbjörn…. Esbjörn seemed, above all else, sad.

"So not only have you not changed," Hiccup said, crossing his arms again, "but you broke an ancient law to try and get what you wanted by force, in case asking for it outright didn't work."

"What's the law-?" Ruffnut wondered aloud; Hiccup opened his mouth to reply, but Eret answered her before he could, unsheathing his blade as he did so. "Declaring surrender under false pretenses is a crime punishable by death." He stepped forward, glowering at Griselda in particular. "We'd have the right to kill them and their entire fleet without fear of reprisal." With a jolt it occurred to Hiccup that, with such similar birthplaces and backgrounds, Griselda and Eret may have had more of a history than Eret had previously let on.

"Eret-" Valka said softly.

"Oh come _on, _give me one good reason as to why we shouldn't just end all their miserable lives right now and finish this." He raised his sword to Griselda's face, its tip mere inches from the bridge of her nose.

"Eret!" The authority and admonishment in Hiccup's voice was undeniable, and his friend flinched.

It wasn't the first time in his life that Hiccup had pulled rank, but he did _not _like the feeling.

Eret looked sideways at him, eyes still flaming until they met Hiccup's. The fire in them vanished, and he lowered both his sword and his head. "Sorry, Chief."

"How do you like your new leash, Son of Eret?" came a sneer, and Hiccup's head whipped back to the warlords.

"Griselda you are _really _not in a position to be trading insults right now." He growled with the same commanding timbre from before. "He has a point."

At long last, Griselda blanched.

"Chief Hiccup?"

To universal surprise, it was Esbjörn who had spoken. While the two older warlords now hung their heads, the youngest in their midst did not. He looked resigned, certainly, but also resolute.

"I'm not going to plead innocence, but…our people are blameless. Or at least not guilty of trying to deceive you." He gestured to Griselda, Changhatai, and himself. "Breaking the law was our call. Not theirs. And they don't deserve to suffer more than they already have." He took a steadying breath. "I humbly ask that any sentence you pass only apply to the three of us."

Changhatai immediately hissed "Don't grovel," only to be quickly admonished by Griselda.

Hiccup was quiet for a long time, considering. No-one dared break the quiet. And then, after a few minutes, he said calmly, "We're not killing any of you."

Another tense beat, and then a chorus of "What?" erupted from both sides.

Hiccup ignored them all. "You two," he said, addressing the kneeling trappers "would probably be killed as soon as you got back to the fleet. Am I wrong?"

The trappers shook their heads in unison without a moment's hesitation. Under any other circumstances, it might have been amusing.

Hiccup grimaced. "We'll give you some provisions and you can leave in your rowboat. We'll ensure you have safe passage out of our waters, but past that, you're on your own." He closed his eyes, thinking. "Mom, Ruff, can you take them to get what they need? Grab Fishlegs on the way - he'll help you if you need it."

When he opened them, Valka was already helping Astrid's trapper to his feet, who begrudgingly accepted her assistance; Ruffnut's trapper had tears coursing down her face. "Thank you," she whispered emphatically, and Hiccup nodded in acknowledgement.

"As for you three," he looked at each warlord individually, then loosed a weary sigh. "Honestly, what would be the point? You've already lost everything. And you'll either cling to the past and your lives will get _infinitely _worse, or you'll adapt." His eyes flicked to Esbjörn for an instant, and then away. "Who knows, you might even find it in you to try and be better eventually, though based on today I doubt it." His expression hardened again. "But if any of you show up without invitation again, you and your fleet will join Grimmel and Drago on the seafloor, and I will have no compunctions about sending you there. Got it?"

If Hiccup was expecting any kind of response, he certainly didn't get one. He couldn't tell if it was out of humiliation, fear or shock, but none of the warlords said a word, or even so much as blinked.

Astrid stepped forward to stand beside him, occupying the space left by Valka's leaving, and she glowered at them like she'd never glowered before. "He's just spared your lives when he absolutely didn't have to. Start acting like it."

Esbjörn did a hasty half-bow, and after some hesitation, so did Changhatai. But Griselda just shook her head. For the first time, something resembling sadness rippled across her face. "You may pretend this is mercy, boy, but whatever it is you have done with those dragons… know that the loss of thousands of human lives will be on your hands. Not ours."

"Only if _you _refuse to change things, Griselda."

She barked a bitter laugh. "No. Our entire way of life is gone. No matter what we do now, people will starve." When she looked Hiccup square in the face again, some of the raging fire had returned to her demeanor. "Do not pretend you are any better than we are, Chief Hiccup." And without another word she turned and began walking back to the sailboat, Changhatai quickly following suit.

The youngest warlord stayed where he was, looking pensive.

"Do you have something to add?" Astrid said with a touch of exasperation.

"Sorry, no, it's just…she kind of has a point." He glanced at his hands and then at Hiccup. "How are the people of Berk adjusting? You were as reliant on dragons as we were, just in a different way."

Hiccup's mouth almost fell open. The kid was right, and - more interestingly - seemed willing to listen.

So Hiccup gave him the truth. "Things changed for the better when we started coexisting with dragons. And now they're gone… it's been tough. But we're getting there." He lowered his voice, and spoke quickly, fervently. "Look, I don't want your people to suffer. I don't. But if you just…we can _help _you. We weren't even that different from you up until six years ago."

Esbjörn blinked once. Then twice. He opened his mouth, blushed, and closed it again. But then curiosity seemed to get the better of him. "Is it true you flew a Night Fury?" he asked quietly.

Hiccup nodded. "He was my best friend." _And always will be_, he thought to himself.

Esbjörn's eyes widened in awe. "That's a story I want to hear."

"I'd be happy to share it with you?" Hiccup smiled tentatively. "If you'd like?"

Esbjörn glanced behind him at the older warlords, who were preparing to set sail. When he turned back to Hiccup, he almost looked disappointed. "I don't-"

Hiccup shook his head. "It's okay." He paused, then said, "That bird from earlier. Is it-"

"Mine? Yeah. I raised her from a chick."

"She's gorgeous," Hiccup said earnestly. "Is she able to fly long distances?"

"A day or two without stopping. Longer if she's able to hunt along the way." Esbjörn looked wary. "Why?"

"I'm not saying I completely trust you yet, but let me know when you're ready to hear that story. We'll sort something out."

The corner of Esbjörn's mouth quirked for a second, before returning to a thoughtful line. He looked as if he was about to turn away, but then he hesitated. And then said in a hushed voice, "You're nothing like what they described you to be."

Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "Is that a good thing?"

The boy nodded, and this time the smile that had been close to surfacing multiple times now finally appeared on his face.

"Get over here, Runt!" The warlords were ready to go.

"I'm coming!" Esbjörn barked, the hardness returning to his young face. And then a look of defiance swept across his features. He glanced again at the waiting warlords, who were looking murderous, and then back to Hiccup and said "I look forward to our future meetings," in a voice loud enough to carry back to his counterparts.

Hiccup and Astrid shared a fleeting look of shock, and then Astrid said "That was either really brave or really stupid, kid."

Esbjörn shrugged, a distinct glint of mischief in his eyes. "Probably both.

"Probably both," Hiccup agreed, extending a hand. "Good luck."

Esbjörn shook it once, firmly, and then with a final nod and a small smile, set off back down the pier. Hiccup half expected him to get a hiding when he reached the boat, but both Griselda and Changhatai just stared at the young warlord like he'd suddenly grown horns. Esbjörn simply acted like he didn't notice.

No-one said a word as the gang plank was removed, and the vessel slowly eased its way out of port. It was only when the boat was out of striking distance that conversation on the pier began again.

Astrid snaked an arm around Hiccup's waist, and nodded at the retreating vessel. "If you ever wanted a glimpse of what fifteen-year-old you was like, that kid is it."

"What? No way." Hiccup said, then smirked. "I was a lot shorter."

"Ack, you know what I mean," Astrid grumbled with amusement, and ruffled Hiccup's hair.

"How did you know-?"

"I didn't. I just had a hunch they'd try something underhanded. And they did."

Hiccup shook his head, dumbfounded. "You're amazing, you know that, right?"

Her lips curled into a smug grin. "It has been brought to my attention before, yes."

"They'll want our heads for this." Eret said in a flat voice, maintaining his distance. "They've been humiliated twice now. And if they get desperate enough..."

"I know. And I'm completely serious about the consequences if they come back." Hiccup replied. "But you know what?" he said, smiling at the retreating boat. "I think we just made an ally."


	13. Prologue to a Wedding

The tapping on the door was so soft that it took Astrid a minute to realize she hadn't imagined it.

"Mom?" she said groggily, but there was no reply.

Well whoever it was, they could piss off or get an axe in the face.

Astrid rolled over in her bed with a huff and pulled the blankets tighter. She didn't mind the cold – growing up on Old Berk certainly made you accustomed to it if nothing else – but it had been snowing all week, and she was certainly feeling the chill tonight.

The latch clicked softly, and the door creaked open a crack. "Az?" a familiar voice whispered.

Oh Thor. "Hiccup?!" Astrid hissed.

"Can I come in?"

"What're you-? No! It's-"

"Bad luck, I know. But I-I…I just wanted to hear your voice. And since I can't actually see you, I figured-"

"Argh whatever, get in here. And shut the door before you wake my parents!"

There was a brief shuffling sound and a gentle thud as Hiccup did as instructed.

"Aren't you freezing?" Astrid whispered, sitting up.

"Eh, a bit. I won't stay long, promise."

For a moment there was only the sound of their breathing, and the distant rumble of Meg Hofferson snoring from the other side of the house. Then Hiccup murmured. "I missed you this week."

Astrid smiled affectionately into the dark. "I missed you, too. A lot, actually."

"This wedding stuff is-"

"Ridiculous?"

"Completely."

They both chuckled softly.

She wished she could hug him, but it wasn't worth incurring Frigga's wrath for. They were already risking the goddess's ire just being in the same room. "Any good parts?"

"Oh, there were a few. Your Dad was probably the only one with decent marriage advice. Gobber chimed in with stories about my parents a few times, but the rest of them? Yikes."

Astrid snorted, but then her expression turned sad. Not that Hiccup could see it. "I wish Stoick could have been there for you."

"Mm…" Hiccup was quiet for a moment before adding, "I'm glad we got the statue finished in time for the wedding though. I mean it's not the same as actually having him there but…"

"I know."

"How about you, though? Any interesting moments?"

"My Mom got pretty drunk on the third night and just sat there combing my hair for a solid hour or two telling me my own life story, and constantly saying "I'm so proud of you," at random intervals. Which was nice, in a kind of awkward way. And Valka had some insightful observations about the Chieftess side of things." Astrid bit her lip. "Hiccup, I know you might not want to hear it, but I think it was really tough for her when she married your dad."

"Yeah?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I think they definitely loved each other but-"

"My Dad was still "Stoick the Vast". And Berk was…not what it is now."

"Exactly."

There was a small thump in the distance and the pair instantly froze, listening for footsteps or some other sign they were about to get caught. But then nothing happened and they both let out the breaths they'd been holding.

"Probably just a sheep-"

"Yeah. Anyway. Honestly though, I think the weirdest part of this week was taking my Kransen off. Or more knowing I won't be putting it back on."

"Why not?"

"Come on Hiccup, really?"

"No, I mean, I know "why", but you could always just make a new one once we're married and call it a headband."

Astrid snickered. "Sure, why not."

"You'll be Chieftess, no would be able to tell you that you can't."

"You just love causing trouble, don't you?"

"Sometimes." She couldn't see it in the pitch black of night, but Astrid was positive he was grinning.

She was grinning too, until a yawned overwhelmed her. "Sorry."

"Don't be. I should go. Big day tomorrow."

"Really? What's happening?"

"You're hilarious."

"And we should both be asleep already." Astrid whispered with a smile.

"Oh, I doubt I'll be getting any shut eye at all tonight."

"And why is that?"

"Gobber snores like a Gronkle. I might have to find a comfy spot in the workshop just to get some rest."

Astrid bit her knuckles in an effort to stop her giggle. "Well at least tomorrow we'll finally get to move into our own house."

"Then the only snoring I have to contend with is yours."

"Hey!"

She heard his soft laugh again. "'Night Az. I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll be the one in white."

"Noted."

"Love you."

"Love you too."

"Be careful sneaking back out."

"Ye of little faith," he whispered playfully, and with a quiet swishing of fabric and a small creak of the door, he was gone.

Astrid listened hard for any sounds of his leaving as she snuggled back into her blankets, but the winter night remained undisturbed. She waited until enough time had passed that he could conceivably be in bed himself before she closed her eyes again.

She drifted off to sleep on her final night as a Hofferson thinking about the crooked smile of a Haddock.

* * *

_Authors Note: Hello readers! Thanks for sticking with this story so far, and for all your lovely reviews– I know I often go long stretches between updates, but rest assured this story is never forgotten. I'm sure you can figure out what the next chapter or two are going to be dedicated to, but it might take a while for them to appear here: I want them to be memorable (or at the very least entertaining and without typos) :) _


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